Poaching: Tanzania loses 50,000 animals annually

2008-12-12 11:29:00
By Guardian Reporter


Tanzania is losing 50,000 wild animals annually due to poaching, President Jakaya Kikwete has revealed. The President said the number was too big and threatened the sustainability of the country\'s wildlife resources.

``We must halt this trend, otherwise we will have no Serengeti or Ngorongoro,`` Kikwete said during a fundraising dinner organised by the Wildlife Conservation Foundation of Tanzania (WCFT) in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday evening.

He said the government would consolidate efforts to support conservation of wildlife, which holds the key to economic growth and is a source of livelihood for the rural folk.

``It is important to consolidate our efforts of supporting conservation of wildlife resources for the benefit not only of the present generation, but also posterity,`` he said.

He said the vast area set aside for wildlife conservation demanded more resources than what was currently available as the government alone could not adequately manage wildlife without support of the private sector and non-governmental organisations.

President Kikwete assured stakeholders in the wildlife sector that the government was carefully working out modalities that would not disrupt the already set marketing basis or cause any uncalled for negative effects to any company that has been operating smoothly.

Speaking at the function, Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Shamsa Mwangunga said in spite of the great commitment of setting aside large chunks of land for wildlife conservation, the sector faced management challenges, including poaching and encroachment of conservation areas.

She said the sector was also constrained by insufficient equipment and facilities as well as inadequate personnel in terms of number and training.

The minister said the constraints had significantly contributed to the decline in wildlife population, loss of habitat and blockage of wildlife corridors and migration routes.

A total of 260m/- was collected during the function.
Tanzania has 12 national parks, 31 game reserves and 38 game-controlled areas.

More than 30 per cent of the country`s land is devoted to wildlife conservation.
Tourism industry contributes 17 per cent of the GDP.

SOURCE: Guardian

Maybe PETA or HSUS can do a fundraiser.

The problem is continent wide, poaching is the biggest threat to wildlife IMHO.

The issue is how to minimise it as it is impossible to eradicate poaching.

If any guests have some bright ideas on how to minimise poaching lets hear them.

My brief thoughts are that opening up more private game ranches are part of the solution, that is what has occured in SA to some degree and it helps a bit.

Cheers, Peter

I've been on the ground lately in Tanzania and the problem can be improved immensely if the Government would let safari operating companies have a free hand in dealing with poachers. The problem lies in the fact that local politicians have a stake in the poaching continuing. Either they are getting direct kick-backs from the poachers or they fear a political ouster from those constituents that do have a personal interset in poaching. It can be changed if the Government will let the Companies use whatever means they can afford to stop it. It has been done by Paul Tudor Jones in his concession and it can be done elsewhere if they will take the handcuffs off the antipoaching units employed by the safari companies. They will never stop poaching until they enforce the law against those who are caught. Now many poachers who are caught and prosecuted are given a slap on the hand and released. This makes for good politics but poor game management. Lately some Tanzanian politicians have been directly involved in poaching and were caught by safari company anti-poaching units. MMP

i dunno but it seems like the biggest poachers are working for the govt. in one aspect or another.

Encountered poaching first-hand last October in Masailand Tanzania.
Caught two poachers with a female Eland. Fresh meat sells for $1 a kilo in Arusha's markets.

The hell of it was that they were Game Scouts.

No action was taken against them by our Game Scout. But, our PH pitched a wall-eyed fit.
The wildlife has a lousy future with this scenario.

I am afraid the situation in Tanzania is not very brigt on this front.

Poaching patrols employed by the safari companies - to protect areas they have paid large amount of money for, are not allowed to be armed.

They have to be accompanied by an armed game scout. In some instances the game scouts refuse to go into some areas - knowing full well what they will find.

I know of at least some occasions where a game scout got very good at getting the poachers, and decided he does not want to do it again as his family was threatend.

Another sad side stae for animals in Tanziania is the local hunters.

They are allowed to shoot some animals, but in reality they shoot everything the find. Includung cats and females.

The magic word is CORRUPTION.

It permeates a lot of the hunting industry in Tanzania. And sadly is carried down to even foreign outfitters.

And until this is weeded out, I am afraid we are all going to suffer.

Permeates a lot of the hunting industry?? Sure it does. Corruption permeates Africa. Period. Just try to find an honest businessman there who isn't involved in the safari industry. Try to sell those idiots in Uganda or Angola or the CAR an airplane and see how many greedy hands come reaching for your wallet. Try to export T shirts from Nairobi and the same thing happens. It's endemic to the entire continent. And it will never, ever change.

AWA - AFRICA WINS AGAIN

Unfortunately , the word is corruption and in capital letters at that,

I have been experiencing the absolute here in Mozambique as well, Last year we caught a Village Leader with illegal guns, and he admitted during questioning by a Game Scout too hunting Elepahnt , kudu Zebra etc, with it, conclusion the Game Scout got arrested and we had too pay his bail, the Leader did not even get a repremand and is still poaching and burning our concession, and putting out snare lines, as we have tracked him back too the village !@#$@#$%#$%%^$%^^&$

The sole reason for demise of wildlife in Moz is greed, Ihave taken out snareline over 1 mile in lenght, that is not for subsistence living at all, they take out a whole hers at a time,

I shot a lot of dogs last year, and got inot way too m uch shit for it, but they use the dogs too chase the game into the snare lines,

In the North, the Gov, gave the chinese a logging concession in turn for for a shitty tar road that will not last 5 years without maintenance, and they are clearcutting the most beautifull forests in Moz, what is hapening about it - nothing I am afraid

So I am disponded beyond belief, the animals on our concession is being poached out beyond belief, the Game Scouts refuse too Patrol, either though fear or they have become part of the problem,

Severe penalties scare Tanzanian poachers

2008-12-13 11:37:48
By Hannah Mwandoloma


Severe law against poachers in the country has been cited as one of the reasons for Tanzanian poachers to leave their land and go to operate in Kenya where the law is less severe.

Speaking during the Wildlife Conservation Foundation of Tanzania (WCFT) gala dinner on Wednesday in Dar es Salaam, chairman of the organizing committee Andy Chande said that Tanzanian law stipulate that poachers be handed jail sentences ranging from 15 to 50 years while in Kenya there was a jail option for one to six months or paying a fine of between USD 26 and USD 78.

``According to `The East African` newspaper, Tanzanian poachers prefer to operate in Kenya as the law there is less severe.

Poachers prosecuted in Kenyan courts usually get a slap on the wrist - with sentences ranging from one to six months in jail with the option of a fine of between Ksh2,000 (USD 26) and Ksh 6,000 (USD 78),`` said Chande.

He said after crossing the border, Tanzanian poachers conspire with their Kenyan brethren in poaching, who were recruited either to provide information on where the wild animals spend the night or to provide intelligence on where Kenyan Wildlife Security anti-poaching units were likely to be making patrols.

Presenting the speech to president Jakaya Kikwete who was the guest of honour, Chande quoted the ``Science Daily`` of August 1st this year which reported that African elephants were being slaughtered for ivory at a pace unseen since the international ban on ivory trade took effect in 1989.

Chande explained that elephants` death rate from poaching throughout Africa was about 8 per cent a year which is higher than the 7 per cent annual death rate adding that the population of the African tusker in the last 20 years has gone down from one million to 470,000.

``At this rate, unless action is taken, the giant mammal could be extinct by 2020,`` he said.

On behalf of the wildlife conservation foundation of Tanzania, Chande commended the Government for taking steps in establishing para-military unit to be known as Wildlife Protection Unit as elaborated by Minister Shamsa Mwangunga last month when presenting the Wildlife Bill 2008, adding that there was a need for such a unit to arrest the deteriorating situation where poachers were equipped with military weapons.

President Kikwete revealed that the country was losing 50,000 wild animals annually due to poaching saying that the number was too big and threatened the sustainability of the country\'s wildlife resources.

More than 30 per cent of the country`s land is reserved for wildlife conservation and there are 12 national parks, 31 game reserves and 38 game controlled areas. Tourism industry contributes 17 per cent of the country`s GDP.

SOURCE: Guardian

quote:

Originally posted by jetdrvr:
Permeates a lot of the hunting industry?? Sure it does. Corruption permeates Africa. Period. Just try to find an honest businessman there who isn't involved in the safari industry. Try to sell those idiots in Uganda or Angola or the CAR an airplane and see how many greedy hands come reaching for your wallet. Try to export T shirts from Nairobi and the same thing happens. It's endemic to the entire continent. And it will never, ever change.

Very true.

Sadly, there are outfitters who are not from Africa, who are just as guilty in giving African hunting a bad name.

They sell hunts and somehow forget to get the required license. This in turn puts the PH and the client in a very bad situation. It gets saved by offering bribes to the game scout, as if this not done, the hunt cannot be done.

They also employ PHs to conduct their hunts, with clients who have paid for theirs months in advance. After the hunt is over, they seem to forget to pay those PHs.

There are lot of bad apples involved in the African safari business, and many of them are NOT from Africa.