Pan African condemnation of upcoming KZN Bull killing ritual

PRESS RELEASE
Courtesy of : www.animal-voice.org

With only three months to go before another bull is torn apart to die a terrified and agonising death, animal welfare representatives from 10 African countries have called on the South African Parliament to denounce this annual ritual as unbecoming of the modern face of Africa.

At the end of the first-ever pan-African conference on animal welfare, held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 21- 24 September 2009, delegates unanimously called for the recognition of animals as 'sentient', deserving of care, respect and protection.

Delegates also signed a petition calling on the South African Parliament to halt, with immediate effect, the bare handed killing of the bull at the First Fruit Festival in Kwa Zulu-Natal usually held on the first Saturday in December each year. The petition stated:

"We believe that cruelty to animals is not the face of Africa that will see us contributing to global discourse as competent and dignified participants."

Countries that took part in the conference included Somali, Uganda, Egypt, DR Congo, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and South Africa. (See attachment for signatories).

For more about the conference, please go to: www.anaw.org or contact:

Josphat Ngonyo, Director: Africa Network for Animal Welfare.

P.O. Box 3731 - 00506
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 20 606 510
Telefax: +254 20 609 691
Mobile: +254 (0) 722 243 091
+254 (0) 733 617 286
Email: jos@anaw.org


This Press Release is issued by: Compassion in World Farming (South Africa). Compassion's delegate to the conference was Tozie Zokufa.

The signatures referred to in the Press Release are at
http://www.animal-voice.org/images/stories/pdf/petition_re_bull_kill.pdf

Our letter to President Zuma can be seen at
http://www.animal-voice.org/News-2009/Letter-to-President-Jacob-Zuma

For more information:

Louise van der Merwe
SA Representative: Compassion in World Farming
Editor: Animal Voice
Managing Trustee: The Humane Education Trust
CEO: Humane Education Publishers
Tel./Fax +27 21 852 8160
www.het.org.za
www.animal-voice.org

Rhino run down in park

2009-10-01 08:06
The Witness
Ingrid Oellerman
Pietermaritzburg - A white rhino was knocked down and killed by a bakkie and subsequently dehorned in a baffling hit-and-run accident in the Weenen Game Reserve on Tuesday night.

Wildlife investigators are looking into the unusual circumstances surrounding the death of the animal, and the subsequent removal of one of its horns, which was discovered hidden in the bush some 100 metres from where the collision occurred.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesperson Maureen Zimu confirmed the incident, but referred The Witness to top EKZNW official Bheki Khoza, who said he is awaiting a written report before commenting.

Lost its horn
The Witness learned that the white rhino female - believed to have been pregnant - was struck by a white Toyota Hilux bakkie on the main road leading through Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s Weenen Game Reserve shortly before 19:00 on Tuesday.

When police arrived at the scene about three hours later, in response to a report, they discovered the rhino carcass and the bakkie still at the scene.

There was no sign of the driver or any other occupants of the bakkie.

Stranger still was the fact that the dead rhino appeared to have lost its horn.

The horn had not been hacked off in the usual manner employed by poachers, but probably came loose as a result of the collision, after which it appears it was pulled off.

A member of the Pietermaritzburg Organised Crime Unit, Inspector Riaan van Rooyen - who is assigned to a task team investigating wildlife crime, including the recent rhino poaching epidemic in the province - said guards had been stationed at the site until daylight.

Driver traced
At first light, an extensive search of the area was made and the missing horn was found concealed in a thorn tree in the bush.

The driver of the bakkie has since been traced by the police, but his name is being withheld pending further police investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

A full forensic examination of the bakkie and the recovered rhino horn will be carried out.

Van Rooyen said the driver of the Hilux returned to the accident scene on Wednesday. He did not sustain any serious injuries as a result of the collision. The Hilux was badly damaged, however,
A veterinary surgeon carried out an autopsy on the rhino carcass on Wednesday to determine whether or not the animal had been shot, but reportedly found no evidence of gunshot injuries on the rhino.

Alarming increase in poaching
According to evidence led earlier this month during a bail application by four alleged rhino poachers at Kwambonambi, rhino horn currently sells for between R35 000 and R45 000 per kilogram on the black market.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife investigator Rod Potter gave evidence of an alarming increase countrywide in rhino poaching in 2008 and 2009, which is likely to impact on tourism.

In KZN, private game reserves are showing reluctance to stock rhino because of the threat of poaching by syndicates.
Rhino horn is usually destined for the international market as there is a limited demand for it in SA traditional medicine.

It is especially popular as an ingredient in Chinese traditional medicine.
The four accused, who were arrested in possession of freshly hacked off rhino horns linked to a carcass in Umfolozi game reserve, were each granted bail of R10 000.

Another rhino death
Police are also looking into the circumstances in which a white rhino died in Hluhluwe Game Reserve.
The animal’s skull was recovered last week with the horns missing. An extensive search of the area has failed to uncover the horns.

Although predators such as hyenas may have carried them away, experts say that they should have been found in the vicinity of the carcass. The rhino probably died at least a month before the skull was discovered.

Huge seizures of 1169 kgs of elephant ivory in Kenya and Ethiopia

From http://www.wildlifeextra.com

Are fears being realised that the auction of ivory from Southern Africa will increase elephant poaching?

More than 1 tonne of ivory seized in East Africa in days.

September 2009. The Kenya Wildlife Service has seized the largest haul of ivory in recent history at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.

61 tusks

The interception of 61 whole tusks of raw ivory weighing about 532 kg at a Kenya Airways warehouse at 6pm followed joint efforts by the Kenya Wildlife Service Dog Unit, Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and Airport Police as well as the Nairobi-based regional wildlife organisation Lusaka Agreement Task Force.

The unaccompanied luggage was to be air-freighted to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the way to Bangkok, Thailand. The ivory had been falsely declared as "Polishing bench" on the Air Bill and was packed in four boxes.

Second seizure in Addis Ababa

This follows closely on the seizure of another consignment of 637 kg of ivory that was intercepted by Ethiopian authorities just two days earlier on Sunday (September 27, 2009) at Addis Ababa. This consignment had also originated from Nairobi and was destined for Bangkok via Addis Ababa by the same consignee. This consignment had been labelled as "Dye polishing bench". This makes a total of 1169 kg of ivory seized within two days in Addis Ababa and Nairobi, all suspected to be from Kenyan elephants.

In the past, illegally obtained ivory from Kenya usually transited out of the country through porous borders and Moyale has long been suspected to be a point of exit. From Ethiopia, the trophies would find their way to the lucrative black markets in South East Asia.

Intensified surveillance

Kenyan laws allow confiscation and seizure of illegal goods while on transit. Kenya Wildlife Service has intensified surveillance at all the international airports in the country using sniffer and tracker dogs to enforce these provisions. 24-hour surveillance has been mounted at JKIA and will be extended to Mombasa and Eldoret, the other international airports in Kenya. KWS intend to ensure that it's almost impossible to leave Kenya with any ivory and other illegal trophies.

Poaching on the risePoaching for Elephant ivory has been on the rise across the continent since the partial lifting of international trade in ivory in 2007 to allow the one-off sale to China and Japan by four South African Countries: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

125 elephants killed in 2009 by poachers in Kenya

The recovered ivory is suspected to have been sourced locally and from the neighbouring countries. Kenya has this year lost 125 elephants through poaching but most of the poached ivory has been recovered by KWS through security operations. Kenya lost 47 elephants to illegal killings in 2007 and 98 last year. In absolute terms this is not alarming. However, the percentage increase in illegal killings within the last three years is worrying. The current prolonged drought has also taken its toll on the elephant population but has mainly affected the young and sub-adult elephants, about 70.

KWS is concerned that the CITES decision to allow the one-off sale of ivory was not well supervised and has led to the death of other species like rhinos, buffalos and antelopes. Investigations show that killers of elephants take everything in their wake.

Our message to the world is: "Please don't wear ivory. It belongs to elephants"

Investigations have been launched to ascertain the origin of the ivory and the culprits behind this illegal trade in wildlife.

Kin Under Skin : What elephants and humans have in common.

G.A. Bradshaw, 09.13.09, 12:01 AM EDT

Taken from : http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/12/science-elephants-humans-opinions-contributors-neurobiology.html

William is an executive at a Wall Street firm. He has three children, is on the arts board,

and is easily the club's best

tennis player. No one would guess that the pressed white shirt he wears every day hides cigarette burns and the ragged scars of abuse. William never knew a father's love or a secure home until his mother remarried. It was then he learned how to play tennis, laugh and watch television on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, a stepfather's arm around his shoulder and a mother's hand on his knee.

When William made partner, his wife booked him a ticket to Africa to celebrate his achievement. It was there he first met Kani. The safari guide had pointed out Kani in camp. Without words, there was a flash of recognition. Kani had also suffered as a child; he was orphaned after witnessing his family hacked to death by angry villagers. Fortunately, a loving family took him in. The first years were hard, but eventually he matured into an upstanding member of the community with children of his own.

Both William and Kani had brothers who were less fortunate. Brian and Mukiri never had the opportunity to heal from their violent wounds. Each grew up on his own, lacking the love and reassurance of a father figure who could guide him to manhood. At age 16, Brian was killed in a drug deal gone bad. At 14, Mukiri was gunned down by authorities.

Standing beside the Land Rover, William gazed out over the savannah at the awesome bulk of an African bull elephant. The giant, Kani, turned his head and the two locked eyes. “We survived,” they said. “We survived.”

***

An elephant's brain is nearly four times the size of a human's. The added volume affords elephants the prodigious memory needed to store a vast knowledge of elephant society and the complexities of African life. Elephant matriarchs recognize over 100 different relatives and friends, and when conditions are harsh, they can navigate scores of miles to lead their families safely to food and water.

Despite the difference in size, human and elephant brains are surprisingly similar. Neuroscience reveals there are no appreciable differences in brain structures and mechanisms between humans and other animals. Even birds, with evolutionary history that took a separate path, have brain functions and capacities convergent with their mammalian counterparts.

This cerebral overlap accounts for the similarities between William and Kani. Though man and elephant grew up in different skins and on different continents, they share similar stories and endings because of a common neurobiology. Brain science also explains why they became who they are today and their brothers did not. Mental receptivity and brain plasticity endow the elephant matriarch with wisdom--and allow human children to learn Japanese, Swahili and English simultaneously while adults stumble through their menus in Paris, trying to recall college French. Sadly, it is the same plasticity that makes humans and elephants vulnerable to suffering. Abuse and neglect leave enduring scars. What we experience in the outside world penetrates deep inside, even to the point of turning genes on and off.

Traumatic memories persist, but wrongs can be righted with love. For William, it came in the form of a stepfather he could trust. For lucky orphans like Kani, it is the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, outside Nairobi. There, from infancy to teenhood, orphaned elephants are nurtured and taught elephant ways and values by caregiving African men so that they are able to rejoin their pachyderm kin in the wild expanses of Kenya.

Science increasingly reveals that nature has a face. The stories of William and Kani suggest that what we do and how we treat each other can leave a long-lasting legacy on the neurons and synapses of the brain. A polar bear drowning in Arctic waters, a parrot alone in a metal cage and a child abandoned are variations on the same theme. Saving the elephant or the whale is a way to save ourselves and our children. We are kin under skin.

G.A. Bradshaw, Ph.D., is director of the Kerulos Center and the author of Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us About Humanity, to be published Oct. 6, 2009 by Yale University Press

Culling 'a last resort' in Ezemvelo's elephant control plans

Mercury: September 16, 2009 Edition 1

Tony Carnie

EZEMVELO KZN Wildlife has become the first conservation agency to submit new elephant management plans - including the option of culling elephants at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, Tembe, Isimangaliso and Ithala game reserves.

But Ezemvelo says no culling is on the cards yet as other methods of limiting elephant populations are being tested, including contraception at Tembe Elephant Park on the Mozambique border.

South Africa has more than 17 000 elephants in 80 national, provincial and private reserves. Most are in the Kruger National Park, which suspended culling 14 years ago.

A new elephant management policy was finalised last year and included the resumption of culling as a last option.

Responding to recent questions from DA environment spokesman Gareth Morgan, the national Environmental Affairs Department said no elephants had been culled since the new policy came into force in January last year.

Environment affairs director-general Nosipho Ngcaba confirmed that Ezemvelo had submitted management plans to the department for the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, Isimangaliso, Ithala and Tembe reserves, and that they provided for culling.

She said, however, that the new policy stipulated that culling would be approved only as a last resort.

With the exception of a small herd on the border with Mozambique, elephants were wiped out in KwaZulu-Natal in the early 1900s.

More than 200 elephants were reintroduced to KZN's parks from 1981 to 1994. From a founder population of 160 orphans, the number in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park has grown to about 470. Tembe Elephant Park now has 270 elephants, Ithala about 110, Isimangaliso (St Lucia) 60 and Mkhuze about 50.

Appeal to the Dutch Government Who wants Emergency Act Against Environmental Defenders Sea Shepherd

You can view this petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/5519958

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Gambia: Thirteen Wild Animal Species Extinct

The Daily Observer (Banjul)

Gambia: Thirteen Wild Animal Species Extinct -Minister Cham

Hatab Fadera

14 September 2009

Banjul — Momodou Kotu Cham, the minister of Forestry and the Environment, last Thursday, informed members of the National Assembly that 13 species of wild animals have gone extinct. Among them, he said, include elephant, giraffe and lion.

Minister Cham was responding to a question posed to him by the National Assembly member for Banjul South, Honourable Baboucarr S Nyang, who wanted to know the reason behind the extinction of wild animals in the country, especially in regions such as the Central and Upper River Region, which he said, were in the past endowed with lots of animals.

The Forestry and Environment minister said as in all other natural processes, extinction could be both natural and human driven. For most of the wild animals of The Gambia, he said, the major cause of extinction has been loss of habitat by basically human beings. "To a large extent, our human population has been responsible for the extinction of a large number of wild animals because as the population increases, so is its demand on land to settle, to cultivate, and indeed to conduct all other human development needs," he said.

He then went on to inform the members that species like the elephant and lion need hundreds of kilometres of land as their home range. But as their habitat gets destroyed as a result of human activities, he said, these wild animals that require large home ranges are forced to migrate, or get killed, and eventually go extinct.

Reintroduction of some species

Also responding to a related question from the same NAM, on whether there are plans or programmes geared towards re-populating some of the designated national parks with animals such as leopard, antelopes, bucks, and cheetah amongst others, the Forestry and Environment minister told deputies about plans to re-introduce certain species of these animals into some of the nature reserves and parks. "But it must be noted that reintroduction has both technical and financial implications. Game reserves for viewing, and nature tourism including safaris could become an additional high class tourism product for the country, and at the same time enhance and increase the value of wild species," stated Minister Cham.

This, he told members is the reason why the government has invited the private sector, both Gambian and foreign to invest in the parks since the private sector could provide both technical and financial requirements. "As I speak, we are studying several requests from some investors who have expressed interest," concluded the Forestry and Environment minister.