This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/01/elephants-pilot-poaching-big-game-slaughter
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Elephants are being killed on a massive scale. There is a way to stop this | Elephants are being killed on a massive scale. There is a way to stop this |
| (7 months later) | |
| The death of the British helicopter pilot Roger Gower, shot down by elephant poachers over a game reserve in Tanzania, shows the dangers faced by the heroes attempting to save our most charismatic mammals from extinction. | The death of the British helicopter pilot Roger Gower, shot down by elephant poachers over a game reserve in Tanzania, shows the dangers faced by the heroes attempting to save our most charismatic mammals from extinction. |
| We are in the midst of a crazy killing spree, the slaughtering of elephants, rhinos and lions on a scale never before witnessed on Earth. The 1989 ban on the international trade in ivory and conservation efforts that helped populations of big African animals recover in the 1990s now looks like a golden age. In 2007, 13 rhinos were poached in South Africa. In 2014, 1,215 were poached. Last year, numbers fell for the first time since 2007 – to 1,175. More than 129,000 elephants have been killed for their ivory since 2012. | We are in the midst of a crazy killing spree, the slaughtering of elephants, rhinos and lions on a scale never before witnessed on Earth. The 1989 ban on the international trade in ivory and conservation efforts that helped populations of big African animals recover in the 1990s now looks like a golden age. In 2007, 13 rhinos were poached in South Africa. In 2014, 1,215 were poached. Last year, numbers fell for the first time since 2007 – to 1,175. More than 129,000 elephants have been killed for their ivory since 2012. |
| In this climate, it is hard to regard good news with anything other than pessimism. Africa’s lion population is estimated to have halved since 1990 but scientists at Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) have discovered a previously overlooked population of up to 200 lions in national parks in Ethiopia and Sudan. These beasts won’t survive unless those countries can be helped to protect them. | In this climate, it is hard to regard good news with anything other than pessimism. Africa’s lion population is estimated to have halved since 1990 but scientists at Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) have discovered a previously overlooked population of up to 200 lions in national parks in Ethiopia and Sudan. These beasts won’t survive unless those countries can be helped to protect them. |
| What to do? Follow the money. For we know what lies behind the poaching epidemic: lucrative markets for rhino horn and ivory in China and Vietnam, and traditional Chinese medicine’s fetishisation of exotic animal parts. South-east Asian governments are not doing enough to stop industrial poaching; western leaders are not doing enough to force them to stop. This year, China’s government unveiled draft laws that confirm the legality of its exotic animal farms and allow local administrations to license trade in endangered species. This is a backwards step. | What to do? Follow the money. For we know what lies behind the poaching epidemic: lucrative markets for rhino horn and ivory in China and Vietnam, and traditional Chinese medicine’s fetishisation of exotic animal parts. South-east Asian governments are not doing enough to stop industrial poaching; western leaders are not doing enough to force them to stop. This year, China’s government unveiled draft laws that confirm the legality of its exotic animal farms and allow local administrations to license trade in endangered species. This is a backwards step. |
| There is opportunity of sorts here. Endangered elephants, rhinos, lions and tigers are a gift to today’s distrusted governing elites. Stopping their slaughter would be tremendously popular. It is also a much easier win than the daunting, much trickier challenge of combating climate change. Tough, targeted sanctions would force south-east Asian governments to properly police the trade in endangered animal parts. Davos or the G20 could do something useful and bring charismatic megafauna back from the brink. That would be a turn-up wouldn’t it? | There is opportunity of sorts here. Endangered elephants, rhinos, lions and tigers are a gift to today’s distrusted governing elites. Stopping their slaughter would be tremendously popular. It is also a much easier win than the daunting, much trickier challenge of combating climate change. Tough, targeted sanctions would force south-east Asian governments to properly police the trade in endangered animal parts. Davos or the G20 could do something useful and bring charismatic megafauna back from the brink. That would be a turn-up wouldn’t it? |
| Pop-up parakeets | Pop-up parakeets |
| During the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch last weekend, ring-necked parakeets were spotted in Glasgow. Thousands of these escaped pets now fly in London, and new Scottish populations shouldn’t be a surprise given that this species is happy in the Himalayas. Our actions are forcing animals and plants to change habits – or habitat – with disorientating speed. Still, it can be joyous when they do. | During the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch last weekend, ring-necked parakeets were spotted in Glasgow. Thousands of these escaped pets now fly in London, and new Scottish populations shouldn’t be a surprise given that this species is happy in the Himalayas. Our actions are forcing animals and plants to change habits – or habitat – with disorientating speed. Still, it can be joyous when they do. |
| Whale of an apology | Whale of an apology |
| I recently walked across the marshes at Friskney, Lincolnshire, to find the fifth dead sperm whale. Unlike the other four whales stranded on popular beaches, this one was virtually unvisited. At first, it reminded me of a small submarine, an inanimate object, its dark-grey skin flaking like peeling paint. But when I tentatively touched its back, it became a he, a fellow mammal. He smelt sickly sweet, his blunt head raw red from his struggle in the North Sea’s treacherous shallows. So big, and so vulnerable. He was too large for us to help. Sometimes it feels like the problems we have created for all these big beasts become so large that we can no longer solve them. I said sorry. It seemed appropriate. | I recently walked across the marshes at Friskney, Lincolnshire, to find the fifth dead sperm whale. Unlike the other four whales stranded on popular beaches, this one was virtually unvisited. At first, it reminded me of a small submarine, an inanimate object, its dark-grey skin flaking like peeling paint. But when I tentatively touched its back, it became a he, a fellow mammal. He smelt sickly sweet, his blunt head raw red from his struggle in the North Sea’s treacherous shallows. So big, and so vulnerable. He was too large for us to help. Sometimes it feels like the problems we have created for all these big beasts become so large that we can no longer solve them. I said sorry. It seemed appropriate. |
Previous version
1
Next version