Nineteen Rhino Killed In South Africa's Kruger National Park Last Week

 

 

The Department of Environmental Affairs in South Africa announced that last week nineteen rhino were killed in Kruger National park. This brings the total for the first months of this year to 313 in South Africa. At this rate, it is expected the death toll from poaching in South Africa alone could surpass 1,000 this year alone. This would be up almost 40% over last year's total.

Kruger has been particularly hard hit with 229 rhino's killed. Just two weeks ago it was announced that the very last rhino was killed in Limpopo National Park in Mozambique which adjoins Kruger.

In other poaching news, over two dozen elephants were massacred at a world heritage park in Central Africa. It is the first time that the poacher syndicate has hit this park. Last year over 25,000 elephants were killed by poachers.

At the current pace, it is estimated that elephants and rhino will no longer exist in the wild within 15 years.

Crisis In Nigeria Worsens As State of Emergency Is Declared To Battle Boko Haram

 

 

 

".... the president has made the somewhat embarrassing admission that the state no longer controls the entire territory of Nigeria. "
-Will Ross (BBC)

The escalating crisis in Nigeria has grown worse. This week President Goodluck Jonathan declared a 'state of emergency' in three northern states with huge Muslim populations. In making the declaration, the President, in essence, is admitting that he has lost control of the region including the support of many government officials in the area.

The President announced that he is sending more troops into the three states to battle with the insurgent Boko Haram. In the last two and a half years, over 2,000 people have been killed in battles in the region. The BBC reports that on Tuesday 53 people were killed and 13 villages were burnt to the ground

The government troops have committed a number of atrocities creating more sympathy for the rebels.

The emerging civil war with the northern Islamic states is a cause of great concern among observers of the situation. BBC News journalist Will Ross reports:

Attacks have largely been hit-and-run or even suicide missions, but by saying areas have been "taken over by groups whose allegiance was to different flags and ideologies", the president has made the somewhat embarrassing admission that the state no longer controls the entire territory of Nigeria.

Mr Jonathan also urged politicians in the affected states to co-operate with the armed forces and the police. This raises the question of what they have been doing. After all, some northern politicians have been accused of backing Boko Haram.

The BBC describes the Islamic insurgent group Boko Haram:

Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram - which has caused havoc in Africa's most populous country through a wave of bombings - is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.

Its followers are said to be influenced by the Koranic phrase which says: "Anyone who is not governed by what Allah has revealed is among the transgressors".

Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it "haram", or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society.

This includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education.

Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers, even when the country had a Muslim president.

The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad".

But residents in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, where the group had its headquarters, dubbed it Boko Haram.

Loosely translated from the local Hausa language, this means "Western education is forbidden".

An American Success Story; The Comeback Of The Bald Eagle

 

 

Where you find Bald Eagles

You only have to look at the second video below to understand fully the extent of the return of the once endangered Bald Eagle. In Alaska, one afternoon, over 30 bald eagles ended up in backyard! What a sight that must have been to behold!

Since 1728 when the Bald Eagle was named our 'national symbol' (poor Ben Franklin wanted the Wild Turkey), the bird has had it ups and downs.

The eagle was officially put on a list for possible extinction for the first time in 1940. By 1967, there were only 487 nesting pairs in the entire United States. In 1978, all bald eagles were listed as an endangered species. From that low of less than 500 nesting pairs in the Continental United States, there are now an estimated 10,000 nesting pairs.

It has now been removed from the list and there are nesting pairs in 48 states!

Government Says Tanzanian Elephants Will Be Extinct In Seven Years

 

 

THIRTY ELEPHANTS A DAY ARE BEING KILLED IN THE COUNTRY.

Experts say that 25% of all African Elephants live in Tanzania which in the past had one of the most progressive wildlife policies of any African nation. That is not the case anymore. This week new figures emerged which sent shock waves across the wildlife community. The Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Environment, James Lembeli, told the National Assembly that it is possible that elephants would disappear in just seven years given the current rate of poaching.

The population of elephants in Tanzania has dropped from about 110,000 in 2009 to less than 70,000 in just three and a half years. An estimated 10,000 elephants a year are being killed in that nation by poachers. This month over four tons of Ivory Tanzania was discovered in Hong Kong in containers. Lembeli stated in the speech to Parliament:

"If this poaching trend is left unchecked, obviously the elephant population will disappear in the next seven years, This is a national disaster. The government and its agencies should take serious measures to address the problem."

If a poacher is found in Tanzania, he most often is given a $13 fine! The same poacher can make more off an ounce of ivory than he can gold. Long time Wildlife advocate Iain Douglas-Hamilton says of the slaughter:

There's an enormous slaughter of elephants going on in Tanzania right now. Things are out of hand. There's no protection in numbers for elephants any more than there was for bison in last century when they were all wiped out in America.

WILDLIFE: Last Rhino Killed In Mozambique National Park

 

 

 

 

If you hope to see a rhino in the wild, you can now cross off Mozambique's Limpopo National Park. Poachers have just killed the very last rhino in that national park. Just ten years ago when Limpopo was formed, there were 300 rhino. Now there is not even one left. Unless drastic action is taken soon, it will be soon the reality in most national parks in Africa.

The Mozambique park ispart of the famous 'Peace Park' that also straddles South Africa and Zimbabwe. The South African portion, Kruger National Park, has seen 180 rhino poached since January 1 of this year. Already there has been 250 rhino killed in all of South Africa.

News24 reports:

The IFAW will later this year partner with Interpol in providing training for customs and wildlife law enforcement officers in Mozambique.

This forms part of a worldwide capacity building initiative.

IFAW has since 2006 trained more than 1 600 government representatives at the forefront of the struggle against wildlife crime in several countries throughout Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania and the Caribbean.

The IFAW director for Southern Africa, Jason Bell, said: "“Cross border co-operation and intelligence-led enforcement are the only way we can halt poaching and trafficking.

"It is too big a problem for any one country to tackle.

"We need range states, transit countries and destination countries to share their law enforcement resources, including intelligence, or we’ll never be in a position to shut down the kingpins of the international ivory trade.

"Poaching and the illegal trade in ivory and rhino horn is an issue of global significance and needs a global response if we are to turn the tables on the killers.

"This cannot happen in a vacuum.

"Consumer nations – China, Vietnam and Indonesia – have to make a concerted effort to reduce the demand for these products in their own backyards because otherwise the battle will be lost."

Central Africa's Forest Elephant Population Had Dropped 62% In Ten Years

 

 

 

 

"Nearly 5,000 elephants have been lost in the northern zone of Congo between 2009 and 2011," said Mokoko.

 

 A shocking report has emerged from Africa. AFP is reporting that the population of the Forest Elephants of Central Africa has dropped by an astounding 62% from poachers. The crisis deepens on a daily basis for African wildlife. The report says 

Poaching on an "industrial" scale has slashed the elephant population in the countries of central Africa by nearly two-thirds, a group of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said on Friday.

"A recent study shows that the population of forest elephants has dropped by almost two-thirds or 62 percent in the past 10 years, victims of large-scale ivory poaching," the group of eight NGOs said in a statement.

"The situation is dramatic and worrying. It's very dangerous," Jerome Mokoko, assistant director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, told reporters at a news conference in Brazzaville.

"Nearly 5,000 elephants have been lost in the northern zone of Congo between 2009 and 2011," said Mokoko.

He added there were 80,000 elephants in the Central African Republic just 30 years ago but their number has been reduced to just a few thousand. "The Democratic Republic of Congo alone is home to 70 percent of the elephant population of central Africa. But now there are only between 7,000 and 10,000 elephants in the DRC," Mokoko said.

Jules Caron, head of communications for the World Wildlife Fund in central Africa, said the elephant poaching situation had changed "dramatically." "We are no longer talking about small-scale poaching but poaching on an industrial scale, all run by highly organised and well-armed gangs of international criminals," added Caron.

The NGOs said poachers were seizing on weapons, especially Kalashnikov rifles that have become widespread due to several civil wars flaring in the region.

"The ivory trade begins and ends in south-east Asia, notably China and Thailand, respectively the world's biggest consumer and the world's biggest legal ivory market," Caron told AFP.

He called on heads of state to "take on the fight against poaching, criminal activity surrounding animal parts and illegal trade in wild species."

VIDEO: The Extraordinary Story Of African Heroine Kuki Gallmann Efforts To Save African Wildlife

 

 

 

Without question one of the great heroines of current day Africa is Kuki Gallmann. She has such an amazing story that there was a major Hollywood motion picture made from her autobiography. The film, I Dream of Africa, starred Kim Basinger and was released in 2000.

Gallmann has been a pioneer in the effort to save the wildlife of Africa and known for her bravery, innovative solutions and passionate commitment to that cause.

She traveled to Africa with her husband and son in 1972 from Italy to settle in the Northern Rift Valley. Her husband was killed in an automobile accident and her teenage son died from a snake bite. She stayed in Africa and became a citizen of Kenya.

She continues to fight for the survival for her precious wildlife. She was badly beaten by poachers last year. Over forty elephants have been killed on her property alone.

You can support of her foundation by clicking here. 

Wildlife: Tanzania's Elephants Being Killed At Record Pace

 

 

The news about Elephants in Tanzania is not good and continues the increasingly depressing news coming out of Africa. Stuff.co.za reports that an epidemic of poaching in Tanzania is putting the huge animal in jeopardy. This is especially disturbing since the nation is one of the most enlighten in Africa when it comes to conservation policies.

The nation has one of the largest populations of elephants in the world with somewhere between 40,000 and 70,000. The site reports:

Pratik Patel gazed glumly as the herder's scrawny brown dogs moved between piles of bones to eat the rotting elephant flesh. He pointed to the nearby road and wondered aloud: How could poachers kill an elephant just five kilometres from Tanzania's main safari highway?

Conservationists have long warned of the existential danger that poachers pose to Africa's elephants. And it's in Tanzania, home of the Serengeti game reserve and one of the world's two largest elephant populations, that the scale of the killings and the involvement of government employees may be the most chilling.

The three elephant corpses seen by an Associated Press reporter eight weeks ago lay in a game park just a few miles from a busy junction outside Arusha, a city of 500,000 people.

"Twenty-four elephants were shot within 10 square miles over the last three months. Thirty miles from here there are another 26 carcasses," said Patel, a safari tour operator trying to raise the alarm about the country's dying elephants. "And this is just a teaser. If we go to southern Tanzania I can show you 70 carcasses in one day," he said, referring to the Selous, the world's largest game reserve.

The man tasked with saving Tanzania's elephants is Khamis Suedi Kagasheki, minister for natural resources and tourism. Patel believes Kagasheki, a former intelligence officer, is trying hard to beat the poachers, but is up against a government cabal unwilling to give up illegal profits.

Much of the demand for ivory is in Asia, especially China, luring poachers across Africa to slay the giants and cut out their tusks for rewards far beyond the daily wage. According to CITES, the international body that monitors endangered species, the illegal ivory trade has more than doubled since 2007.

Every week brings new reports of elephant deaths and the government workers alleged to have killed them - soldiers, game wardens, police, customs officials, all complicit in the killings of the top tourism treasure for this poor East African nation of 50 million people.

Botswana, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo and Kenya are also suffering from elephant poaching. But Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the founder of the London-based nonprofit Save The Elephants, says he is most worried about Tanzania's because of its huge population - somewhere between 40,000 and 70,000.

Poaching here "is far bigger than is happening anywhere else in Africa," he said.

READ MORE BY CLICKING HERE...

Florida Fights The 'Invasion Of The Giant African Snails'

 

 

 

As the world becomes smaller and smaller, species are being transported from one country to another. National Geographic in an article by Ker Than is reporting an invasion in Florida of Giant Africans Snails that originate most likely in Nigeria. This snail is very dangerous in that it can cause meningitis, eat plants and even eat the stucco on homes in Florida.

The monster snails can lay a hundred eggs a month and live up to eight years. In eighteen months, Florida has collected 120,000 of these critters.

Here is an excerpt from Than's report:  

A new outbreak of giant, disease-carrying snails is threatening Florida's crops, experts say.

The giant African land snail is finding itself right at home in the Sunshine State, whose hot and humid climate resembles the species' tropical Nigerian habitat. (Related: "Giant Snails, Once a Delicacy, Overrun Brazil.")

Now found throughout the world, including the contiguous United States and Hawaii, these invasive plant-eaters pose a particular danger in Florida because of its vibrant agricultural industry.

"We're producing food that the nation depends on ... [and this snail] eats 500 different plants, including pretty much everything that grows in Florida," said Mark Fagan, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Agriculture.

"This is not something we can walk away from. These snails are a major threat to Florida's agriculture."

Some snails are smuggled into the U.S. as pets or for religious practices and, once here, get transported around the country in plants or cargo by unwitting people, experts say. (Read more about invasive species.)

"These snails have been intercepted by customs and border patrols at airports. There was one woman who was flying back from Nigeria [who] was intercepted, and she had hidden some snails under her skirt," Fagan said.

The exact reasons for smuggling the snails is unknown, he added, "but we are aware that these snails are used in certain religious practices. Some people also like to keep these snails as pets because they're exotic."

Hardy Pest

There have been outbreaks of the snails in Florida and other parts of the country before, but Florida's latest boom began a year and a half ago in Miami-Dade County. "They're very prolific," said Awinash Bhatkar, a snail expert with the Texas Department of Agriculture.

After reaching adulthood at about six months of age, the snails can produce up to a hundred eggs per month and live more than eight years.

Whereas most snails feed on decaying organic material or on leaf molds, the giant African land snail is one of the few snails that actually feed on plant parts themselves, Bhatkar said.

In addition to plants, young snails are known to munch on house stucco and even cement as they seek out calcium to strengthen their growing shells.

The snails also pose a human and animal health threat because they can eat rat feces and contract rat lungworm, which can cause a rare form of meningitis. (See pictures of infectious animals.)

"The parasitic nematode that causes rat lungworm can be present in the slime of the snail," Fagan explained. "So if a person comes in contact with the snail, the nematode present can then enter the person's body, eventually making its way into the brain."

He added, "We have confirmation from the [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] that rat lungworm disease is present in some snail samples that we sent up to them."

Central Africa Elephant Population Drops 62% In Ten Years!

 

 

 

 

 

AFP is reporting that plight of Central Africa's Forest Elephants has reached the critical stage. Because of the influx of arms into the civil wars in Mali and Central African Republic the poachers now have new weapons.

BRAZZAVILLE — Poaching on an "industrial" scale has slashed the elephant population in the countries of central Africa by nearly two-thirds, a group of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said on Friday.

"A recent study shows that the population of forest elephants has dropped by almost two-thirds or 62 percent in the past 10 years, victims of large-scale ivory poaching," the group of eight NGOs said in a statement.

"The situation is dramatic and worrying. It's very dangerous," Jerome Mokoko, assistant director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, told reporters at a news conference in Brazzaville.

"Nearly 5,000 elephants have been lost in the northern zone of Congo between 2009 and 2011," said Mokoko.

He added there were 80,000 elephants in the Central African Republic just 30 years ago but their number has been reduced to just a few thousand.

"The Democratic Republic of Congo alone is home to 70 percent of the elephant population of central Africa. But now there are only between 7,000 and 10,000 elephants in the DRC," Mokoko said.

Jules Caron, head of communications for the World Wildlife Fund in central Africa, said the elephant poaching situation had changed "dramatically."

"We are no longer talking about small-scale poaching but poaching on an industrial scale, all run by highly organised and well-armed gangs of international criminals," added Caron.

The NGOs said poachers were seizing on weapons, especially Kalashnikov rifles that have become widespread due to several civil wars flaring in the region.

"The ivory trade begins and ends in south-east Asia, notably China and Thailand, respectively the world's biggest consumer and the world's biggest legal ivory market," Caron told AFP.

He called on heads of state to "take on the fight against poaching, criminal activity surrounding animal parts and illegal trade in wild species."