African elephants (Loxodonta africana) herd walking through the savanna in the Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, East Africa. Photo Credit: Arterra via Getty Images

Animals Tanzania12. July 2021

Agencies Join Forces to Keep Elephants Alive

Ivory poaching – or killing elephants for their tusks – seems to have come to a halt in Tanzania: the African country took major steps to stop the illegal activity with the help of multiple agencies, and as a result, the elephant population is rising.

“Tanzania now is no longer seen as a major exit for ivory,” says Mary Rice, Executive Director of the Environmental Investigation Agency. “The multi-agency approach was instrumental because we all know from lessons learned and from good examples in other places that having a multi-agency approach is the only way to deal with these problems, because one agency can’t deal with them alone.”

With the help of Tanzania’s Taskforce on Anti-Poaching (NTAP), wildlife and security sectors united, ensuring 2,377 arrests of poachers and traffickers between 2009 and 2014, and a rise in the elephant population from 43,000 to 60,000. Since 2015, 3,541 suspects of poaching and trafficking have been identified and “blacklisted”. In 2020, 11 organized wildlife trafficking syndicates have been identified and infiltrated, and 21 “kingpins” have been arrested. On top of arrests within crime organizations, the NTAP managed to seize a total of 14,000 pieces of ivory, 25 rhino horns, 29 hippo teeth, and 29 “big cat” skins within 5 years.

Source:
Mongabay

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