“Rebels and soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed more than a 10th of the elephants in one of Africa’s oldest national parks as demand for ivory in China grows, said Emmanuel de Merode, director of the Virunga National Park. ” - Bloomberg.com
“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, Democratic Republic of 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
“In Chad, Janjaweed militia from Sudan killed 100 elephants in one afternoon; in Kenya, Somali warlords armed with rocket-propelled grenades killed four wildlife rangers during a bloody raid on herds in the Tana Delta; in Democratic Republic of Congo, a whole host of rebel groups have turned the country’s dwindling elephant population into a new cash crop.” - Independent.co.uk
“Elephant populations were recovering in a national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s war-torn east, mostly due to anti-poaching efforts, said conservationists on Friday.” - News24
“Numbers of elephants and other large mammals have increased in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park since the last census three years ago, conservation groups in the United States and DRC report.” - Environmental News Service
“Members of Uganda’s notorious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) are terrorising civilians and killing wildlife in the restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC officials said Thursday.” - The Citizen
“Fed up with the constant destruction of their crops by marauding elephants, farmers in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are trying a new method to fend off the pachyderms - planting red chillies around their farms.” - IOL
“Fed up with the constant destruction of their crops by marauding elephants, farmers in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are trying a new method to fend off the pachyderms, planting red chillies around their farms.” - News24
“The number of elephants in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park rose by over 1 000 in the past two-three years, partly because of animals fleeing poachers and civil war in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, an official said on Monday.” - IOL
“A new report on ivory poaching in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has picked out the country’s fractious army and the police among those heavily involved. The study by Congo’s national conservation body warns that if poaching continues at the current level, forest elephants will be threatened with extinction in the east of country.” - VOA
“Poachers linked to the Sudanese SPLA rebels are killing elephants for ivory in the Democratic Republic of Congo, say national park authorities.” - BBC NEWS
“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
