The nation’s Garamba National Park is facing a poaching crisis. In 2015, 200 elephants were killed in the park, reducing the population from 11,000 in 1980s to a mere 1,780 elephants. About 68 elephants were killed within three months last year. The poachers are mainly Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, militias such as the M-23 and groups and pastoralists from South Sudan and Central African Republic. They use grenades, rocket launchers and helicopters.
In 2012, it was named by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as a key player in the illegal ivory trade. Uganda, which currently has an estimated 2,913 elephants, is a major international smuggling point for illegal ivory. Its rhino population was completely wiped out in 1982. It currently has 15 rhinos that are closely monitored in sanctuaries.
Since 2009, nearly half of Mozambique’s elephant population has been wiped out by poachers. Between 2009 and 2014, its population fell from about 20,000 to 10,300. The northern parts including Niassa National Reserve accounted for 95 percent of the deaths. The nation has no live rhinos left in her national parks and reserves too. They were declared extinct in 2013.
It is the worst affected nation by poaching in East Africa. Nearly a third of all ivory seized annually in Asian markets comes from Tanzania. It has lost more than half of the elephant population since 2010 and currently has about 60,000 remaining. In 2013, about 10,000 elephants were killed, meaning that bout 30 elephants are killed in the nation daily. Experts warned that if the poaching crisis was not checked the entire population could be wiped out by 2020. The nation’s rhino population is slightly above 120, a staggering reduction from the 500-700 rhinos that lived in Serengeti National Park before poaching increased in 1970s.
The East African nation lost 137 elephants and 24 rhinos to poaching in 2014. Currently, the elephant population is about 38,000. This is a drastic decrease from the 167,000 in the 1970s. By the end of 2014, Kenya had 1,047 rhinos; 648 black rhinos and 396 Southern White rhinos. Of the four remaining Northern White rhinos, three are living under tight protection in the Ol Pejeta Sanctuary. Despite the poaching menace, Kenya has the third highest number of rhinos in the world, after Namibia and South Africa.
It is an elephant poaching hotspot in Southern Africa. In the 1970s, Zambia had about 200,000 elephants. This reduced over the years to about 26,000 in 2010. In 2013, it lost 135 elephants to poaching. The Southern Africa nation had 12,000 rhinos in 1970s. Due to massive poaching, they were declared extinct in 1998. Currently, a few rhinos are only found in North Luangwa National Park.
It has the highest number of rhinos in the world. Poaching has increased in recent years and their population is under threat in the next 10 years. In 2014, South Africa lost 1,215 rhinos. A year later, the number fell to about 1000. This was a drastic increase compared to an average of 13 rhinos killed annually from 1990 to 2007. It is the hardest hit nation by rhino poaching.
Since 2015, there has been a drastic increase in rhino poaching and 50 rhinos were killed that year. In 2014, 20 rhinos were killed. Most of the killed rhinos are the Black rhinos, a species that is classified by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to be critically endangered. There are about 800 rhinos remaining in the nation. High unemployment level and poor remuneration for most employees in the parks and reserves has fueled an increase in poaching.
The country is experiencing a return to peace after years of civil war that broke out in December 2013. In April 2016, 17 elephants were killed in a single incident in Warrap State. Months earlier, 15 elephants had been killed in the same region. There were about 2,500 elephants before the war started. In the course of the conflict, about 30 percent of this population was wiped out. The presence of thousands of soldiers in the bush and government soldiers who have not been paid for months is a threat to the few remaining elephants. Government soldiers and rebels have already been accused of engaging in elephant poaching for illegal ivory trade, besides other animals like antelope to provide bushmeat.
In 2012, the nation experienced one of the worst mass killings of elephants across Africa. Poachers who were armed with grenades and AK-47 rifles killed more than 300 elephants inside the Bouba Ndjidah National Park. It lost nearly 2,000 elephants between 2012 and 2013. This forced the government to declare elephant poaching as a threat to the national security.
In 1970s, the nation had about 50,000 elephants in her national parks and reserves. Currently, there are about 1,500 left. Years of civil war and armed conflicts in neighboring countries have fueled poaching in Chad’s elephant population.
It had about 15,000 elephants in the 1980s, but currently has about 1,900 remaining. In 2004, Ethiopia’s black rhino population was classified as critically endangered.
