IFAW says 34 tons of ivory seized in 2012
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E-mail Xinhua, December 18, 2012
IFAW has warned that the annual poaching season run by professional poachers in Central Africa may start in the coming days or weeks.
He said poachers are taking advantage of dry season conditions poachers from countries such as Sudan target poorly secured elephant populations across the region.
Most illegal ivory is destined for Asia where it has soared in value as an investment vehicle and coveted as "white gold".
According to IFAW, last week's reports indicated the beginning of the 2013 poaching season, as news of caravans of heavily armed poachers crossing from Sudan, across Chad and the Central African Republic, en route west, began to filter into the media.
The ivory is smuggled out of West and Central Africa for markets in Asia and Europe, and the money it raises funds regional conflicts.
Earlier this year, in just six weeks, between January and March 2012, at least 50 percent of the elephants in Cameroon's Bouba Ndjida National Park were slaughtered for their ivory by horseback bandits.
"We need a completely coordinated effort by the international law enforcement community if we are to have any chance of success against the crime syndicates who are behind the slaughter of elephants for their ivory – between 25,000 and 50,000 in 2011 alone, and many more thousands in 2012."
"That includes swift DNA identification of seized ivory, so that we know how and where to point our efforts to prevent further poaching and close down transit routes for smuggled ivory. That kind of support for countries on the frontline of the war against elephant poaching is essential for success," Bell said.
Few animals are as threatened by wildlife trafficking as elephants. Earlier this year, IFAW raised the alarm as hundreds of elephants were slaughtered in Cameroon.
Recent reports from IFAW make it clear that ivory is a global concern with a regional focus.
IFAW in partnership with Interpol is part of a worldwide capacity building initiative to train law enforcement officers in wildlife trafficking prevention in several countries throughout Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania, and the Caribbean.
To date, more than 1,600 governmental representatives at the forefront of this struggle have been trained since 2006.
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