AFRICAN INDABA - Newsletter

Elephant Ivory Auction Feedback

Gerhard R Damm

The auctions of over 100 metric tons of legal ivory to China and Japan were recently held in southern Africa. The long-delayed sales of stockpiled ivory in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe were being conducted over two weeks under close supervision of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The four countries are home to 312,000 elephants, and their stocks of tusks came from natural deaths or the culling of herds to keep the population under control. Namibia opened the bidding on 28 October, Botswana sold its 43 tons on 30^th October, while South Africa, with the largest sale of 47 tons, and Zimbabwe, 4 tons, followed suit on 6^th and 2^nd  November respectively. In total, a whooping 100 tons of ivory will enter the market.

CITES approved the export of the ivory stockpiles of the four African countries because they have been able to establish that elephant populations are now under control and being monitored in an acceptable manner. Proceeds from the auctions are required to be used to fund future conservation initiatives targeting threatened elephant habitat, and community development projects in areas where elephant populations have been interfering with local farming. 

The auctions were organized by the governments of the respective African countries and only authorized Chinese and Japanese merchants were permitted to bid. Under the agreement, the ivory is not permitted to be re-exported, even after processing. CITES says it will be working with governments, Interpol and several NGOs to ensure this is the case.

CITES calls the exceptional sale “an African solution to an African problem,” in reference to the problems associated with conservation initiatives that do not take the unique circumstances in different parts of the world into account. “While richer countries can often afford to promote conservation through strict protection, many poorer nations must do so in ways that benefit local communities and bring in much-needed cash for conservation,” CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers has said in the past.

Critics fear that the exclusive auction to Japan and China, two of the world’s largest ivory markets, has the potential to trigger a bidding war between the two countries. This frenzy, they argue, could inadvertently drive up black market prices and thus create more incentive for poaching. Yet – the predicted “frenzy” did not happen! Other critics point out that the legal sales could boost poaching and illegal trade by making it difficult to distinguish between legal and illegal ivory in the marketplace and drawing attention to the fact that there is still demand for the controversial good.

But CITES representatives disagree with the critics. They say that their close monitoring of elephant numbers in the four countries, combined with the potential for increased wildlife protection provided by the proceeds of the auctions will, in fact, decrease poaching. “Some NGOs are saying that this will increase poaching because demand will be stimulated,” says Juan-Carlos Vasquez of CITES. “But we don’t have any evidence to indicate that this is the case.” Moreover, data collected by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC shows that seizures of illegal ivory fell in the years following the last legal sale in 1999.

AFRICAN INDABA - Newsletter

Humans and elephants on collision course in South Asia

 

Humans and elephants on collision course in South Asia Download * Review of Human-Elephant Conflict Mitigation Measures Practised in South Asia [pdf, 1.69 MB] It is estimated that the amount of economic damage caused by human-elephant conflict amounts to millions of dollars in some countries © WWF-Canon / A. Christy WILLIAMS Related links * Read more about human-animal conflict 17 Nov 2008 Kathmandu, Nepal: Massive international investment in large-scale infrastructure projects in southern Asia will increase human-elephant conflict and cause more deaths on both sides unless much greater care is taken. A new report released today, funded by the World Bank as part of the World Bank-WWF Alliance for Forest Conservation & Sustainable Use, warns international investors that a clear strategy for keeping human-elephant conflict under control makes economic as well as environmental sense. It is estimated that the economic damage caused by human-elephant conflict amounts to millions of dollars in some countries and in many cases it is those responsible for new land developments that have to foot the bill.

WWF - Humans and elephants on collision course in South Asia

57 Wildlife Criminal Suspects Grabbed in African Crackdown

 

NAIROBI, Kenya, November 17, 2008 (ENS) - Africa's largest international operation against wildlife crime has netted 57 suspected illegal wildlife product dealers and 1,000 kilograms of powdered, carved and raw items of ivory in coordinated raids across five African countries. On the weekend, Kenya Wildlife Service, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force and INTERPOL personnel raided local ivory markets, airports, border crossings and smuggling points. Cheetah, leopard, serval cat and python skins, as well as hippo teeth also were seized. Kenya served as the coordination center for the simultaneous operation in the other participating countries - Congo Brazzaville, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia. More than 300 staff from the police, customs, wildlife agencies, national intelligence agencies and the Lusaka Agreement Task Force were involved in the operation across the five countries. Clement Mwale, right, of the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, displays an ivory necklace seized in a raid this weekend. Nairobi, November 17, 2008. (Photo courtesy Kenya Wildlife Service) "Kenya Wildlife Service used various specialized law enforcement units to conduct the operation. It is also in the process of modernizing and enhancing its law enforcement capacity through the acquisition of ivory detectors, and other specialized security equipment, in order to counter wildlife crimes more efficiently," said the KWS Director Julius Kipngetich.

57 Wildlife Criminal Suspects Grabbed in African Crackdown

Elephant tusks sold legally for first time in a decade

 

The ivory being sold almost all comes from elephants that have died of natural causes Photo: REUTERS

Elephant tusks sold legally for first time in a decade The first legal sale of elephant tusks for almost a decade took place yesterday, angering animal rights activists. By Sebastien Berger Southern Africa Correspondent Last Updated: 6:13PM GMT 28 Oct 2008 Previous 1 of 2 Images Next Elephant ivory - Elephant tusks sold legally for first time in a decade The ivory being sold almost all comes from elephants that have died of natural causes Photo: REUTERS Elephant ivory - Elephant tusks sold legally for first time in a decade But some animal rights groups claim that the sales will encourage poaching, by providing a cover for illegal exports Photo: AP Seven tons of ivory were sold for more than £700,000 to Chinese and Japanese bidders after the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) allowed four southern African countries to sell off some of their stockpiles. South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe had long argued that their elephant populations were not under threat, and that allowing financial benefits from wildlife creates an incentive to preserve it. CITES authorised each of them to hold a one-off auction, to be followed by a 10-year moratorium on any further sales, with buyers restricted to Chinese and Japanese traders. It decided the two Asian countries, where there is huge demand for ivory for traditional family seals, artworks and handicrafts, both had sufficient safeguards in place to monitor the ivory and ensure it was not re-exported.

Elephant tusks sold legally for first time in a decade - Telegraph

Massive ivory auctions to lead to new killing of elephants, conservationists warn

 

Massive ivory auctions to lead to new killing of elephants, conservationists warn 18:04 Wed 22 Oct 2008 - Elitsa Grancharova Ivory auctions that will take place in Namibia on October 28, Botswana on October 31, Zimbabwe on November 3, and South Africa on November 6 2008 have raised the concerns of international conservationists from Born Free Foundations (BFF), a member of the Species Survival Network, who said that the ivory auction was approved by members of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), despite an international outcry from scientists and conservationists. Following the announcement that more than 108 tonnes of stockpiled elephant ivory in southern Africa would be auctioned in 2008, fear was mounting that the most vulnerable elephant populations across Africa and Asia would be unable to withstand the increased levels of poaching that are predicted to occur as a result of these sales, BFF said in a media statement on October 20. Between 1979 and 1989, more than 600 000 elephants were killed for ivory causing the elephant population plummet from 1.3 million to just 600 000. Current estimates put African elephant populations at around 475 000.

Massive ivory auctions to lead to new killing of elephants, conservationists warn - News news

Center for Computational Epidemiology established

BY ELIZABETH BASSETT

September 01, 2008

The University of North Texas and its local Health Science Center have created the new Center for Computational Epidemiology with a $473,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services.
The center will continue research started in 2005 by a team that included members of the Health Science Center’s department of biostatistics and the university’s departments of geography, computer science and biology. That team already has developed working models to estimate the pattern of transmission of diseases such as tuberculosis, human papillomavirus and influenza.
Creating tools and models to predict the dynamics of an infectious disease outbreak will be one of the center’s goals. The models will let public health officials see how different scenarios will play out in the event of an outbreak.
The new center will work on the construction of a simulation chamber that will be used to develop the models
and train students and health officials how to use them. Because of all the computer power needed to run the complex models, a computer cluster will be installed at UNT’s Discovery Park to run the simulation chamber, and two portable visualization systems will let people view the chamber operations from Discovery Park and the health science center.

The Moose/Wolf Dynamic on Isle Royale

SOURCE: Isle Royale Wolf/Moose Study | GRAPHIC: By Patterson Clark, The Washington Post - July 21, 2008

The Moose/Wolf Dynamic - washingtonpost.com

Four African Countries to Sell Ivory, China Permitted to Buy

 

GENEVA, Switzerland, July 15, 2008 (ENS) - Four southern African countries have been approved to sell a total of 108 metric tonnes of government owned elephant ivory as a one-time exception to the international moratorium on ivory sales that has been in place since 1989 to protect these endangered animals from poachers.

The decision was taken today at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES, in Geneva. It is the third such sale permitted since the ban took effect.

The 33 member CITES Standing Committee, which oversees the implementation of the CITES treaty between the major conferences, has authorized the ivory sale that was agreed in principle in June 2007 for Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

 

Elephant tusks with two rhino horns, front left (Photo courtesy Care for the Wild International)

The Committee also agreed to designate China as an importing country. Japan had already been allowed to import ivory in 2006. Officials of both countries said that they would monitor their domestic markets after purchasing the ivory to detect any increase in illegal sales of the valuable material.

Four African Countries to Sell Ivory, China Permitted to Buy

Fears for future of African elephant as UN prepares to legalise China ivory sales

 

AP

Conservationists warn that if China becomes an approved ivory trading partner, African elephants "will be shot into extinction".

Succumbing to the massive Chinese demand for ivory carvings and trinkets is likely to give an enormous boost to the illegal, poaching-based trade, conservationists have warned.

They say if China becomes an approved ivory trading partner, African elephants "will be shot into extinction".

China is expected to be given the green light by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) at a meeting in Geneva on Tuesday. The upcoming auction of 108 tonnes of ivory, which China would be able to participate in, is also likely to be given the go-ahead. In previous sales, only Japan had been allowed to take part.

Fears for future of African elephant as UN prepares to legalise China ivory sales - Telegraph

Return of the ivory trade

 

By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
Saturday, 12 July 2008

Elephant numbers across Africa were estimated to have crashed from 1.3 million in 1980 to 625,000 in 1989.

Alarmed conservationists are warning of a new wave of elephant killing across both Africa and Asia if China is allowed to become a legal importer, as looks likely at a meeting in Geneva next week.

The unleashing of a massive Chinese demand for ivory, in the form of trinkets, name seals, expensive carvings and polished ivory tusks, is likely to give an enormous boost to the illegal trade, which is entirely poaching-based, conservationists say.

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Return of the ivory trade - Nature, Environment - The Independent

Alberta- Deer cull sparks protests

A helicopter carries the bodies of deer, dangling by cables, to an eight-metre deep pit in this photo taken Feb. 28 on farmland north of Provost, Alta. (Photo supplied by Duane Morrell)

A rising body count has fuelled protests by Provost-area residents against a government deer cull designed to stop the spread of chronic-wasting disease (CWD).

The latest pictures, snapped Feb. 28 about 16 km north of Provost (292 km southeast of Edmonton) by Duane Morrell, a member of the Provost and District Fish and Game Association, show the grim reality of the systematic killing.

Bloody deer carcasses litter the snow-covered fields. A helicopter carries the bodies, dangling by cables, to an eight-metre deep pit. Their heads removed for testing but their meat and hides un-harvested, scores of deer are stacked up along the bottom of the trench.

“After following the helicopter around and witnessing the amount of deer harvested on the 28th, there is no possible way that the deer could be processed in the four-hour time period allowed by the government, leading to the disposal of mass quantities of meat that any hunter would face charges for,” Morrell said.

Dave Schmidt explained that association members consider the cull to be overkill – taking a high number of animals for the number of deer testing positive for CWD – and resent the province’s methods and the cost of the cull.

But he adds that a protest campaign targeting the current minister of Sustainable Resource Development, Ted Morton, is helping publicize their concerns.

edmontonsun.com - Alberta- Deer cull sparks protests

Continent's Plan to Save the Elephant

 

Seventeen African countries, including Kenya, have signed a document for the establishment of a coalition to save the elephant.

It was also agreed that a global elephant action plan that will fight illegal killing and trade in ivory be implemented.

It also paved way for an elephant conservation fund to be known as the African Elephant Coalition, says Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Assistant Director for Biodiversity, Research and Planning, Mr Patrick Omondi.

allAfrica.com: Africa: Continent's Plan to Save the Elephant (Page 1 of 1)

African Elephant Countries Strategize to Thwart Poaching

BAMAKO, Mali, February 6, 2008 (ENS) - Elephant conservation and anti-ivory trade initiatives are the focus of a meeting that opened today here with delegates from 17 African elephant range states. Organizers say there is potential for the formation of a coalition of like-minded states that will work towards strengthening elephant conservation

African Elephant Countries Strategize to Thwart Poaching

TUD - Professur für Forstliche Biometrie und Forstliche Informatik - ABM-IBM Course

Course in Individual- and Agent-Based Modeling

Bad Schandau, 20.7.-2.8.2008

Objective

Individual/Agent-based modeling is a computational approach to analyzing complex systems in many disciplines, including ecology, geography, economics, and systems biology. The basic idea of agent-based models (ABMs) is to model the essential traits and behaviors of adaptive agents (plants, animals, humans, institutions) and investigate the individual- and system-level properties that emerge as the agents interact with each other and their environment. Individual behavior and system-level patterns are mutually dependent and ABMs are a powerful tool for understanding this relationship. The course will introduce the basic concepts and methods of agent-based modeling through lectures, exercises, and independent projects. The software platform „NetLogo“ will be used.

TUD - Professur für Forstliche Biometrie und Forstliche Informatik - ABM-IBM Course

'Linear features' hurt caribou, moose

 

Boreal forest researchers refer to both roads and hydro transmission lines as "linear features," but to some forest-dwellers they might simply be called bad news.

"The more of these you build, the more negative effects you'll get in the system," said Stan Boutin, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta.

Boutin said in Alberta, whitetail deer and coyotes are using linear features to expand north into the boreal forest, where they never lived before.

The deer, especially, have a negative effect on moose and woodland caribou, because wolves are attracted to the high number of deer.

winnipegsun.com - Canada News - 'Linear features' hurt caribou, moose

Elephant biltong in Zimbabwe? - Article

 

The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe plans to produce biltong from elephant meat to sell in retail outlets throughout the country "as part of sustainable utilisation of the animals," the Herald online said.

Parks director-general Dr Morris Mtsambiwa said the project began last year after the Ministry of Environment and Tourism permitted the authority to experiment with the "resource".

"It is in our plans. We plan to start this year. We tried it last year and we found that we did not have the proper infrastructure for the purpose," he reportedly said.

The Times - Article