Africa's elephant population lowest in 25 years
A newly released report addresses the drop in the number of elephants throughout the continent, mainly due to poaching.
An African elephant throws mud onto himself at the Mpala Research Center and Wildlife Foundation near Rumuruti, Laikipia District, Kenya.
In the past decade about 111,000 elephants were killed for their tusks. Conservationists are meeting in South Africa over the next two weeks to set new rules for the trade of ivory and put an end to poaching.
African savanna elephants graze in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The number of savanna elephants in Africa is rapidly declining and the animals are in danger of being wiped out.
The figures were announced at the Johannesburg conference on wildlife trade on Sunday, a global meeting to discuss the best way to improve the plight of Africa's elephants, targeted for their tusks by poachers.
Poaching behind worst African elephant losses in 25 years IUCN report https://t.co/B2A7sNJJaJ pic.twitter.com/dIQ0PmTTsO
— IUCN (@IUCN) September 25, 2016
Two African countries, Namibia and Zimbabwe, said they want to be able to sell ivory stockpiles that have accumulated from natural deaths to fund community elephant conservation initiatives.
Both countries boast healthy elephant populations and their appeal to sell the stockpiles is backed by South Africa.
Zimbabwe National Parks official inspects the country's ivory stockpile at the Zimbabwe National Parks Headquarters in Harare in June. Demand for ivory has not abated despite international efforts to curb poaching.
"We have been keeping this ivory for nine years and we're hoping this moratorium will be lifted so that we are able to sell this ivory or to produce jewellery, artefacts for the benefit of our people," Zimbabwe's Environment Minister Oppah Muchinguri said.
Thousands of conservationists and government officials are in Johannesburg for the 12-day gathering, seeking to hammer out new international trade regulations, with several proposals on whether to tighten or ease controls on the ivory trade on the agenda.
The illegal wildlife trade has put pressure on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that has been signed by 180 countries. The agreement aims to ensure that the trade in wildlife and animals do not threaten their survival.
"CITES should be there to facilitate us to succeed in our conservation programmes rather than these imperialistic policies," Muchinguri said.
"We have our sovereign right and we know best what to do, how to utilise our natural resources. We should not be punished, we should be rewarded."
Muchinguri said she was speaking on behalf of the southern African region which is home to three-quarters of the savannah jumbo population.
An Elephants Without Borders airplane flying over a herd of elephants at the Ngoma border between Namibia and Botswana. The results of a three-year aerial survey of Africa's elephants published by the NGO revealed a dramatic 30 percent decline.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature put Africa's total elephant population at around 415,000, which was based on 275 estimates across the continent.
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