“According to the park wardens, meat — and hunger — is the main reason behind these killings, not ivory. This is not surprising given the dire poverty that affects much of the population in this part of the Congo.”- Ottawa Citizen
“In the last few days, we have received reports that poachers have killed 17 elephants in the Virunga National Park in the Congo, at least 6 tigers in Nepal’s Chitwan National Park and 6 rhinos in northern India and Nepal.” - Wildlife Extra
“An upsurge of elephant poaching in the Democratic Republic of Congo has resulted in the killing of 14 elephants in the past two weeks by militias, the military, and local villagers. Four were felled by an ex-Rwandan Hutu FDLR militia, formerly known as Interahamwe. Three elephants were murdered by the local Mai-Mai militia (PARECO), five by the Congolese military (FARDC), and two by local villagers. From eastern Congo’s Virunga National Park where the slaughter occurred, Emmanuel de Morode, who heads the conservation group Wildlife Direct, says the killing frenzy was also encouraged by a readily available pool of weapons.” - VOA News
“Rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo believe that rising demand for ivory in China is to blame for an unprecedented wave of elephant poaching in one of the country’s war-torn national parks.” - May 6th, 2008
Tags: Africa, China, Congo, Ivory, Man/Animal Conflict, Poaching | No Comments
“Fourteen rare elephants in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park have been killed since mid-April, a conservation group says.” - BBC NEWS
“An upsurge of elephant poaching in the Democratic Republic of Congo has resulted in the killing of 14 elephants in the past two weeks by militias, the military, and local villagers.” - VOA News
“Soldiers, rebels and villagers in Democratic Republic of Congo killed 14 elephants in as many days in Africa’s oldest national park to meet rising Chinese demand for ivory, a conservation group said on Thursday.” - Reuters.com
“Dr Stephen Blake has trekked hundreds of miles on foot with pygmies to study Congo forest elephants. He talks to Stuart Coles about these ‘hidden giants” - Telegraph
“Herds of elephants are trampling crops and polluting water sources in eastern Republic of Congo, threatening to force thousands of villagers out of their homes, the forestry minister said on Friday.” - Reuters.com
“Conservationists hope chillies and hi-tech geophones will help protect fields from elephants in Congo Republic, where villagers are fed up with pachyderms eating their crops.” - Reuters AlertNet
“The Republic of Congo announced today plans to expand its protected area network for the purpose of further conserving the region’s immense biodiversity, one of the key goals of the 7th Conference of the Parties for the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-7). As a delegate at the conference, Congo’s Minister of Forestry Economy Henri Djombo announced that his country will officially gazette the Bambama-L?kana National Park, a unique and spectacular mosaic of rolling savanna and gallery forest inhabited by elephants, chimpanzees, lions, and other savanna/forest wildlife, along with plans to expand marine reserves along the coast and create new protected areas along the southern border. ” - EurekAlert!
“The traditional home of lowland gorillas and elephants in the Democratic Republic of Congo is an area rich in tantalum, a mineral used to make components for mobile phones, computer games consoles and other electrical goods.” - Birmingham.co.uk
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