Nearly 250 elephants have been shot dead in the course of this year in the Garamba National Park, Upper Uele, Province Orientale [northeastern DRCongo]. The approximate figures were issued on Wednesday [6 December] by park wardens at Nagero, a village in the neighbourhoods of the park in Faradje District, during an information visit of the MONUC [UN Mission in DRCongo] officials from Ituri [district of Province Orientale].

According to the wardens, the prevalence of poaching in the area was being facilitated by the free movement of light firearms in the area and the porous border crossing between Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Uganda.

Wardens met at Nagero indicated that at Ngabapayi, a village to the northwest of the park, a Kalashnikov was being sold at 15 US dollars, and a basket of ammunition was going at 5,000 Congolese Francs [approximately 8 US dollars], and that the poachers were both Congolese nationals and foreigners.

The wardens felt that the leadership should increase the number of security operatives and increase their logistical means in order to put an end to the situation.

Commentary

Garamba is the National Park to the East of the Bili/Uere protected area. In the last two decades it benefited from millions of dollars in conservation funding to try to protect the worlds remaining Northern White Rhino. Today there are three left and essentially the worlds most endangered large mammal has to be considered extinct.

After the rhinos it now seems to be the elephants turn. The same applies the 60 000 square kilometers Bili Uere protected area which was classified an "Elephant Park' in colonial times because it had a higher density of elephants than any other area in the Congo. They are now pretty much all gone and clearly bush meat hunting will not stop but now extend to the other larger mammals.

Compared to Garamba which is a National Park the Wildlife and Hunting Reserve status of Bili Uere has not had a single ranger active on the ground for the last 20 years and more elephant ivory and meat has come out of this area then any other in the Congo. (plus it has recently been invaded by cattle people from Chad and the Central African Republic which no longer have to worry about sleeping sickness).

The only way to avert the above trend would be for the new administration in Kinshasa to show real political will and allow an active and well equipped ranger force to be installed and in the absence of a judicial system the only law enforcement policy which seems to work in the context of the above would have to be a shoot to kill policy when it comes to the heavily armed poaching gangs.

Commentary by Karl Ammann
Nanyuki 12/12/07