Heard that yesterday CITES banned export of elephant trophies to EU countries from Mozambique, anyone know if there is any truth to this?

Mart

I do not think CITES dictates who can import a trophy, only whether it can be exported.

It may be that the EU banned import though.

Elephant poaching in the Selous & Niassa is rampant right now. In discussion on lion in Niassa with a person on the ground 24/7 there...I was told that some of the prides flourished the last couple of years due 'strictly' to the fact that all they had to do was walk from one ele carcass to another with out hunting at all.

Even though ele are abundant in many parks and not endangered by any means...the negative press of this poaching epidemic combined with the fact much of the illicit money finds its way into terrorist orgs...is going to complicate things for us hunters.

One of the complaints we hear in conversations defending the use of land as hunting blocks is that many outfitters fail to protect their blocks from poachers. (Not my words at all...just telling what we hear)

But...it is the rampant poaching that is driving things like the subject of this thread.

Mart, my friend, have not heard the news on Moz but did hear that the EU hunters can no longer import forest elephant ivory from Cameroon.

Well, knowing Africa, how do you as an outfitter defend your block against poachers?
All you can do is report it to authorities, which takes time . If you do anything else or drastic, you"ll be the one paying the price and rot in jail somewhere.
Ultimately, the whole blame is on China and southeast Asia. They are the ones with the " Appetite for Destruction" in name of traditional medicine or things made out of ivory.
That's where UN, US, EU ... should concentrate their effort with drastic measures ( economical blockades etc.)

quote:

Originally posted by boarkiller:
Well, knowing Africa, how do you as an outfitter defend your block against poachers?
All you can do is report it to authorities, which takes time . If you do anything else or drastic, you"ll be the one paying the price and rot in jail somewhere.
Ultimately, the whole blame is on China and southeast Asia. They are the ones with the " Appetite for Destruction" in name of traditional medicine or things made out of ivory.
That's where UN, US, EU ... should concentrate their effort with drastic measures ( economical blockades etc.)

I agree.

However...I have been told that TZ is fixing to issue shoot to kill orders for poachers and is even getting armed drones (complements of USA) for patroling parks.

Cannot speak for the rest but where TZ is concerned and I have mentioned this already in the past, seriously intentioned outfitters with a genuine interest in preserving their concessions have formed their own anti-poaching patrols made up of locals accompanied by officers from the govt. anti-poaching unit.

If properly organized they can be quite efficient; the fruits of their labour are measured in the number of guns "confiscated".

If anyone hears any factual information let me know! I have heard the above from 2 different sources and wanted to confirm, thanks

Mart

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Elephant poaching in the Selous & Niassa is rampant right now. In discussion on lion in Niassa with a person on the ground 24/7 there...I was told that some of the prides flourished the last couple of years due 'strictly' to the fact that all they had to do was walk from one ele carcass to another with out hunting at all.

So very true. I doubt my old toothless lion would have been alive without the Ele carcases.


Banning the controlled hunting would be a great misguided mistake in trying to protect these animals.

quote:

Originally posted by fujotupu:
The fruits of their labour are measured in the number of guns "confiscated".

I see!

I also heard the EU was not allowing any more elephant imports from Mozambique. Apparently it is a measure to force Mozambique to arrest the rampant poaching.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by boarkiller:
Well, knowing Africa, how do you as an outfitter defend your block against poachers?
All you can do is report it to authorities, which takes time . If you do anything else or drastic, you"ll be the one paying the price and rot in jail somewhere.

Cam Greig runs several hunting blocks in Cameroon. In 2011/12 he hired me to assist in running his anti-poaching crew in zone 10(the King's concession). We chased poachers on several occasions but only made one arrest. Overall I think that we got the word out that the area was being patrolled.

One group we chased dropped everything they had before getting away. We got all their poaching and camping gear along with their shoes. I would guess they stayed away from the zone for a while.

The poacher we caught was stripped of all his kit and was put to work making bricks for the King. After he finished his brick making sentence he was going to be turned over to the courts and jailed. I have no idea how he made out.

The US has definately banned import of Hippo from Mozambique....ruled by USF&W. This was due to Mozi failing to complete proper CITIES paperwork on schedule. John Jackson III has been involved in this so he may well have info on the Elephant situation too. I suspect that EU might have ruled on Elephant like US has on Hippo....can't import Elephant to US from Mozi. Barbara at The Hunting Report is also very informed on the facts and data....she will respond quickly, she has to me on the Hippo issue.
Unfortunately, Mozi may be doing it to itself??!!
JJIII brought this up at the recent CITIES session and there is a window to get the paperwork done and submitted....if they don't, it will be 2016 when they will have another window to get paperwork right and approved!!
Cheers,