Posted on 10 August
2012 - Yaoundé, Cameroon – Six months
after the killing of hundreds of elephants
in a Cameroon national park, WWF today is
releasing exclusive video material from
the scene of the shocking event. The release
comes on the eve of World Elephant Day on
Sunday, August 12, 2012. WWF fears that
soon this event might celebrate an extinct
species in Central Africa if ivory poaching
and illegal wildlife trade is not ended.
Between January and March of this year,
heavily-armed foreign poachers invaded Cameroon
and killed over 300 elephants in Bouba N’Djida
National Park. Since the incident, which
drew worldwide media attention, Cameroon
has moved to bolster security in its protected
areas, including deploying 60 new ecoguards
to secure Bouba N’Djida and monitor the
park’s remaining wildlife. Two rangers recently
received gunshot wounds while pursuing a
potential poacher adjacent to the park.
The Cameroon government has agreed a plan
to recruit an additional 2,500 game rangers
over the next five years. The Central African
country also intends to establish a new
national park authority, following the prime
minister’s approval of an emergency action
plan for securing all frontier protected
areas.
While on a recent visit to the military
training programme of the new rangers, Cameroon
Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) Minister
Ngole Philip Ngwese told the recruits “MINFOF
is counting on you to fight the challenges
on the field, especially with the massacre
of elephants at Bouba N'Djida. We can't
wait to have you on the field so that together
we will fight the course which we all share.
You must understand you are working for
the nation by protecting our biodiversity,
which is one of Cameroon's riches."
Record poaching
Despite these efforts, elephant poaching
in Africa has reached record levels in recent
years, and Central Africa’s unique forest
elephants have been the hardest hit. Tens
of thousands of elephants are killed each
year for their ivory tusks, which are mostly
trafficked to consumer markets in Asia.
“Today’s poaching gangs are sophisticated,
global and vicious. They are invading our
countries, not only slaughtering our wildlife
but also killing rangers, and terrorizing
communities,” said Basile Yapo, WWF-Cameroon
Country Director. “Cameroon has done the
right thing by allocating additional resources
to this serious national security issue.
Other Central Africa countries should follow
Cameroon’s lead and act now to stop criminal
gangs before they strike.”
“Large-scale elephant killings like the
one witnessed in Bouba N’Djida can happen
almost anywhere in the region. In fact,
we have heard recent reports of 30 elephants
being massacred in one night in Chad,” said
Stefanie Conrad, Regional Representative
for WWF in Central Africa. “Conservation
is no longer an issue for environmental
institutions alone. People’s lives and jobs
are at risk because of it. Each time an
elephant is killed a country is losing economic
value. WWF is calling on Central African
governments to put an end to ivory poaching
and wildlife crime. The time to act is now.”
Campaigning for change
In response to the escalating levels of
wildlife crime, WWF and TRAFFIC, the wildlife
trade monitoring network, are launching
a global campaign to stop illegal trade
of ivory, rhino horn and tiger parts. Visit
panda.org/wildlifecrime or visit WWF on
Facebook to learn more and take action.
