The below is from Iain Douglas-Hamilton in reference to the article sent around yesterday entitled: The Senseless and Horrific Death of Hope.

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I  would like to avail myself of your column to correct an impression given by the article The Senseless and Horrific Death of Hope which appeared in National Geographic online news.  The article relates a distressing incident in which two elephant matriarchs were wounded and killed by poachers in the space of a few days, and gives the wrong impression that KWS forces were late in responding and disappointing in their performance.
 
This is less than fair.  Community Game Guards were on the spot as they lived exactly where the poaching took place, but KWS had to come from some distance.  Our NGO,  Save the Elephants works very closely with KWS on a day to day basis,  and particularly during the current surge in elephant poaching.  We have callouts regarding such incidents all too frequently and give information to the KWS field forces who respond every time, be it to gunshots, dead elephants found or reports of suspected poachers.  It is easy to criticize from a distance, but we feel there should be more sympathy for those law enforcement wardens and rangers at the sharp end of conservation who risk their lives to confront armed and exceedingly dangerous poachers as a matter of routine, and seldom get recognized for their efforts and risks they face.  I don't know if the correspondent has ever had to drive at night towards a scene where gunshots have been heard with every likelihood of an ambush having been set up, which these men do regularly as part of their duty.

The fact is that the current elephant poaching is fueled by a sharp increase in ivory prices, driven by a surge in demand principally from the Far East, and it is causing criminals to turn to poaching and is putting extremely high pressure on the thin green line that defends the animals. We need to focus our attentions on strengthening that line and subverting the demand, not blaming those facing the greatest risk, for a fire they did not start.  It is only through united action between KWS, conservationists and local communities that we will save the day.

Yours sincerely,

Iain Douglas-Hamilton