Patrols in Tanzanian park slash poaching-scientists
George Obulutsa, Reuters
November 23, 2006

DAR ES SALAAM, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Patrols in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park have cut poaching and increased the population of black rhinoceros, elephants and buffalo, a paper to be published on Friday in Science magazine shows.

The 14,763 Sq Km Serengeti National Park is famous for its 1.5 million-plus annual animal migration to and from Maasai Mara in Kenya.

Ray Hilborn, an aquatic and fishery sciences professor, and his six co-authors show that elephant, buffalo and rhinoceros herds declined in the park after 1977, when most of Tanzania's economy was closed to the world and spending on anti-poaching patrols was slashed.

In the late 1980s the situation improved and more money was allocated to protecting wildlife, leading to larger elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo herds.

"The animals are 'telling' us poaching is down now that there are 10 to 20 patrols a day compared to the mid-1980s when there might be 60 or fewer patrols a year," said Hilborn, a professor at University of Washington in the United States, in a statement ahead of the paper's publication.

The increase in animal numbers can be measured using aerial surveys, he said.

Since poaching is illegal, determining the number of animals killed is impossible, the statement adds.

POPULATIONS REBUILD

Hilborn and his colleagues used a technique employed for decades to estimate fish abundance and set fishing limits - catch-per-unit-of-effort. This compared the number of fish caught in an area to the time spent fishing by all vessels.

When adapted to poaching, they divided the number of poacher arrests with the number of patrols in Serengeti. Anti-poaching effort was measured as the number of daily ranger patrols.

They assumed other factors like patrol officer training did not affect the arrests, and the number of poachers caught per patrol showed the intensity of poaching.

Serengeti park authorities have recorded poacher arrests since 1957. The paper said the data showed that after 1977 poaching was widespread, cutting buffalo, elephant and rhinoceros numbers. But after 1993, poaching fell low enough to allow population resurgence.

For instance, the number of buffalo fell to just over 40,000 in 1985 from about 70,000 in 1975. Buffalo population fell further in 1993 when drought killed 40 percent of them, but recovered after that.

"We show that the precipitous decline in enforcement in 1977 resulted in a large increase in poaching and decline of many species," Hilborn and his colleagues wrote.

"Conversely, expanded budgets and anti-poaching patrols since the mid-1980s have significantly reduced poaching and allowed populations of buffalo, elephants and rhinoceros to rebuild."

Other authors in the study are Peter Arcese and Anthony Sinclair of University of British Columbia in Canada, Markus Borner and Grant Hopcraft of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, Germany and Simon Mduma of Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute.

Others are Justin Hando and Martin Loibooki of Tanzania National Parks.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23291301.htm

Does anyone get the same feeling that I have that the above article is just PR?

After the three ships full of ivory were found in the Orient and Phillippines - all from Tanzania - and the fact that when investigators tried to find out who in Tanzania shipped the ivory they got no cooperation, I have a bad feeling that poaching is on the upswing and that perhaps the government is behind it.

That, plus the hunting area in Loliando (?sp), which I am told could well effect the migration, are disturbing. I hope I am wrong on this score, but I have bad vibes.

Hi Jan,

Elephant poaching in Tanzania seems to be on the rise.....or maybe we just get to hear more of it? However, the ivory consignments you refer to did not all come from Tanzania. One large haul was traced to Zambia. Furthermore, it appears that it was not "recent" ivory but rather "old" ivory which may originate from hidden stockpiles. Or....more likely, from Gov stock piles that have been smuggled out Don't quote me on this last one

The hunting saga of Loliondo is a well documented journalistic cluster f**k. There are irregularities for sure but not of the scale that is being reported by the Greenies. And most importantly, not in the scale that would threaten the migration population.

Have a good day!

bwanamich:

Thanks for your note. The article I was referring to was:

More than 5 tonnes of ivory from Tanzania seized in Taiwan within three days

On 6 July 2006, Kaohsiung harbour Customs officials discovered 744 pieces of ivory (including whole tusks), weighing a total of 3026 kg, hidden in wooden boxes.
© Joyce Wu/TRAFFIC East Asia - Taipei
7 July 2006, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia... Taiwanese authorities have confiscated more than five tonnes of ivory within three days in the Kaohsiung Harbour, marking the largest seizure record of ivory in the island's wildlife crime enforcement history.

"Kaohsiung Customs should be commended for their efforts as well as for their the urgent follow-up measures now underway with their counterparts in Tanzania and the Philippines, as well as with Interpol," said TRAFFIC East Asia - Taipei Programme Officer Joyce Wu. "Ivory smuggling is a lucrative trade handled by highly-organized smuggling rings, and this can only be combated through increased intelligence exchange to catalyse quick, efficient and co-ordinated responses."

Shipping documentation revealed that the illegal consignment originated from Tanzania in eastern Africa and was held in transit in the port of Penang in Malaysia before reaching Kaohsiung, where it also remained in transit, prior to its ultimate destination in the Philippines. Paperwork from the cargo company indicated that the goods were destined for Manila.

After the cargo had remained in Kaohsiung harbour unattended for three weeks, Customs officials decided to inspect the container on 6 July and discovered 744 pieces of ivory (including whole tusks), weighing a total of 3026 kg, hidden in wooden boxes.

This confiscation took place two days after Kaohsiung Customs officials seized two and a half tonnes of ivory, also from Tanzania. That raid uncovered 18 wooden boxes with ivory. The shipment, also bound for Manila, was intercepted at the same Taiwanese harbour.

The route that these shipments took provides some clues into the intricate workings of illegal wildlife trade operations. After leaving Tanzania, the first shipment was routed through Singapore, where it remained in port transit for a period of time. It then departed for Manila, and was then re-routed to Taiwan. It went on to Manila again, but returned to Taiwan without the contraband cargo being offloaded. It was at this point that the confiscation was made in Kaohsiung. Both the shipments were sent by the same exporter, but were for two different importers in the Philippines.

The ivory's routing through the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, comes at a time when South-east Asian nations have formed the ASEAN Widlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) to work more closely together to confront increasingly sophisticated wildlife crime syndicates. "We hope that Kaohsiung Customs will link up with ASEAN-WEN contacts, as well as at the source in Tanzania, to ensure follow-up investigations," said James Compton, Director of TRAFFIC's programme in Southeast Asia. TRAFFIC is partnering with another international NGO, WildAid, to support the operations of ASEAN-WEN.

In May, a shipment of 3.9 tonnes of ivory from Cameroon was seized in authorities in Hong Kong - which means that since May this year, more than eight tonnes of ivory have been seized in Asia from African countries of origin.

Since 1990, Taiwan has banned the trade in ivory. Asian and African elephants are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) which prohibits all commercial trade in these species.

The confiscated ivory will remain in the custody of the Taiwanese government.

For more information:

James Compton
Regional Director, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia
Tel: +6(03) 7880 3940

Maija Sirola
Communications Co-ordinator, TRAFFIC International (UK)
Tel. +44 1223 277427, email: maija.sirola@trafficint.org

ENDS

Notes to editors:

*ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam form the 10 Member Countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
CITES - The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora regulates international trade in more than 30,000 species of wild animals and plants through a system of certificates and permits. The Convention is currently applied in 169 nations, including all 10 ASEAN Member Countries.
ASEAN Member Countries have developed a "Regional Action Plan on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora 2005-2010", which was endorsed at ASEAN ministerial level in September 2005. Thailand was given the lead to develop "Objective Two" of that plan, which relates to improved regional law enforcement collaboration.
The ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network was officially launched in December 2005, at a ministerial-level meeting held in Bangkok.
In May 2006, CITES Authorities from ASEAN Member Countries were joined by representatives from Customs and Police agencies for the First Meeting of the ASEAN-WEN, and to broaden inter-agency co-operation in the development of national taskforces under the regional wildlife enforcement network. ICPO-Interpol, the CITES Secretariat, and the ASEAN Secretariat are also providing technical support to ASEAN- WEN.

From other articles I had read they had been getting no help from the Tanzanian government which indicates, as you imply, that perhaps the government was involved.

Thanks for the reassurance that Loliondo isn't quite as bad as we've been hearing.

Love your quote on the bottom of your posting