Heartbreaking news in Botswana as Elephants Without Borders discovered nearly 90 elephants who were brutally killed for their tusks after conducting an aerial survey near a famous wildlife sanctuary.
According to the BBC, the slaughter comes right after the country’s poaching unit had been disarmed by the government in May, a month after President Mokgweetsi Masisi was sworn into office.
The units have focused much of their effort on the border regions, which have historically been more vulnerable.
A senior official in the president’s office, Carter Morupisi, told journalists in Botswana at the time that the “government has decided to withdraw military weapons and equipment from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks”, but he did not explain why.
According to Elephants Without Borders, the scale of the poaching deaths is the largest they have ever seen in Africa.
This is a tragedy on an epic scale. Eighty-seven elephants have been discovered dead so far, as well as five white rhinos that have been poached in the last three months in Botswana.
Poachers have been entering Botswana to take advantage of the world’s largest elephant population, and killing herds in order to sell their tusks for high prices on the black market. This is the leading cause of death to the world’s last big tuskers, and is driving elephants to the brink of extinction in the wild.
“I’m shocked, I’m completely astounded. The scale of elephant poaching is by far the largest I’ve seen or read about anywhere in Africa to date,” said Dr. Mike Chase from Elephants Without Borders.
According to the findings of the Great Elephant Census, the first-ever aerial survey of Africa’s savannah elephants has shown a dramatic reduction in their numbers in 15 of the 18 countries surveyed.
Savanna elephant populations declined by 30 percent (equal to 144,000 elephants) between 2007 and 2014.
The current rate of decline is 8 percent per year, primarily due to poaching. The rate of decline accelerated from 2007 to 2014.
352,271 elephants were counted in the 18 countries surveyed. This figure represents at least 93 percent of savanna elephants in these countries.
Eighty-four percent of the population surveyed was sighted in legally protected areas while 16 percent were in unprotected areas. However, high numbers of elephant carcasses were discovered in many protected areas, indicating that elephants are struggling both inside and outside of the parks.
We must all work together to end the killings and help Elephants Without Borders Save the remaining elephants in Botswana before it’s too late.
Elephants Without Borders is a charitable organization dedicated to conserving wildlife and natural resources; through innovative research, education, and information sharing with all people, they strive to encourage mankind to live in harmony with wildlife and the natural world.
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