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TO NATIONAL EDITORS:
New Report Commissioned by Born Free USA Confirms Organized Crime,
Government Corruption, and Militia Links to Elephant Poaching and the
Ivory Trade
Editors: Photo/video available.
WASHINGTON, April 21, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Born Free
USA and C4ADS released "Ivory's Curse: The Militarization and
Professionalization of Poaching in Africa," one of the most shocking,
rigorous and in-depth analyses of elephant poaching and the ivory
trade to date. The report examines links to violent
militias, organized crime, government corruption, and ivory trade to
Asia. It further exposes the widespread transnational illicit
participants deeply interwoven into the system that moves ivory. The
full report is available at www.bornfreeusa.org/ivoryscurse.
According to Adam Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA, a global leader in
wildlife conservation and animal welfare, "The elephant poaching
crisis has reached historic levels and, shockingly, some elephant
populations face extinction in my lifetime. Born Free USA sought to
understand in a more robust way how destabilizing and corrupt
individuals, as well as organized crime networks across Africa, place
human security at risk and traffic in elephant ivory from slaughtered
animals. Clearly, Ivory's Curse shows that defense, military, national
security, and foreign policy leaders must play a role in stopping the
elephant massacre across the continent."
Roberts explains, "Our findings shine a bright light on Zimbabwe,
Mozambique, Tanzania, Sudan, and Kenya, where poachers move across
borders with near impunity, slaughter elephants with complete
disregard, and use the ivory to fund violent operations across the
continent. Global leaders cannot stand by while the human tragedy and
poaching crisis continue."
Varun Vira, Senior Analyst at C4ADS and co-author of the report
commissioned by Born Free USA, said, "Ivory is a conflict, crime, and
corruption issue with severe human impact. It has been a conflict
resource for decades, just like blood diamonds or coltan in Central
Africa, only without the same level of global attention."
One elephant yields about 20 pounds of ivory worth approximately
$30,000. It is estimated that between 35,000 and 50,000 may have been
killed in 2013. At this rate, the ivory trade could be worth one
billion dollars annually, and will likely increase with the escalating
retail price of ivory.
Ivory's Curse provides detailed regional case studies on the ivory
trade, including:
-- From Sudan, government-allied militias complicit in the Darfur
genocide fund their operations by poaching elephants hundreds of miles
outside North Sudan's borders.
-- In the DRC, state security forces patronize the very rebels they
are supposed to fight, providing them with weapons and support in
exchange for ivory.
-- Zimbabwean political elites, including those under international
sanction, are seizing wildlife spaces that either are, or likely will
soon be, used as covers for poaching operations.
-- In East Africa, al-Shabaab and Somali criminal networks are
profiting off Kenyan elephants killed by poachers using weapons leaked
from local security forces.
-- Mozambican organized crime has militarized and consolidated to the
extent it is willing to battle the South African army and well-trained
ranger forces for rhino horn.
-- In Gabon and the Republic of Congo, ill-regulated forest
exploitation is bringing East Asian migrant laborers, and East Asian
organized crime, into contact with Central Africa's last elephants.
-- In Tanzania, political elites have aided the industrial-scale
depletion of East Africa's largest elephant population.
Vira explains, "Subsistence elephant poaching barely exists anymore.
Impoverished locals may pull the triggers but they source to organized
crime, which controls the scale of the poaching and nearly all
profits. Saving both elephants and local communities will require
moving from the bush into the world of global illicit networks in
order to target transnational criminal profits. There are infinitely
more young Africans willing to shoulder guns and kill elephants than
there are containers full of ivory."
Roberts concludes, "No one should ever buy ivory, but they should also
contribute resources to organizations like Born Free USA that help
equip rangers on the ground, and should pressure political leaders to
take action to end the corruption. As long as supply chains remain
unbroken and consumer demand remains insatiable, poachers will ply
their deadly trade to supply the marketplace."
The Born Free USA team has focused on wildlife trafficking for more
than two decades, and advocated vociferously for the 1989 Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) uplisting of African elephants to Appendix I, thus shutting
down the commercial international trade in elephant ivory. The
organization maintains a global wildlife trade program and is at the
forefront of campaigns to protect imperiled species, including from
the trade in elephant ivory, rhino horn, tiger bone, lion trophies,
and bear gallbladders.
Through litigation, legislation, and public education, Born Free USA
leads vital campaigns against animals in entertainment, exotic "pets,"
trapping and fur, and the destructive international wildlife trade.
Born Free USA brings to North America the message of "compassionate
conservation" - the vision of the U.K.-based Born Free Foundation,
established in 1984 by Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, stars of the
iconic film "Born Free," along with their son Will Travers. Born
Free's mission is to end suffering of wild animals in captivity,
conserve threatened and endangered species, and encourage
compassionate conservation globally. More at www.bornfreeusa.org;
www.twitter.com/bornfreeusa; and www.facebook.com/bornfreeusa.
C4ADS is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to data-driven
analysis and evidence-based reporting of conflict and security issues
worldwide. C4ADS' approach leverages nontraditional investigative
techniques and emerging analytical technologies. The organization
recognizes the value of working on the ground in the field, capturing
local knowledge, and collecting original data to inform analysis, as
well as employing cutting-edge technology to manage and analyze data.
The result is an innovative analytical approach to conflict prevention
and mitigation. More at www.c4ads.org.
SOURCE Born Free USA
-0- 04/21/2014
/CONTACT: Rodi Rosensweig, 203/270-8929, Rodicompany@earthlink.net
/Web Site: http://www.bornfreeusa.org
CO: Born Free USA
ST: Africa
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