Every 15 minutes an elephant dies from ivory. In the Garamba National Park alone, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, dozens of them have been massacred. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) reports 68 elephants killed in the past two months, with 30 dead in just over two weeks
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Every 15 minutes a elephant dies for ivory. In the Garamba National Park alone, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, dozens of them have been massacred. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) parla di 68 elephants killed in the past two months, with 30 deaths in just over two weeks.
How come so many innocent viitimes? Simple: for ivory, which is particularly easy to get caught here. Suffice it to say that there are only 150 rangers patrolling over 12949.94 km² of the park. As a result, its 1.700 elephants have become an easy target for poachers and armed militants, some of whom are entering from neighboring countries. They come from Uganda, Sudan and Congo.
Poaching and selling illegal ivory serve them for buy food, weapons and ammunition. In some cases, men armed with rifles attacked the animals from helicopters, while men on the ground with chainsaws removed their fangs. The black market price of ivory in Asia, where most of the product arrives, is between $ 1.000 and $ 1.300 per pound.
A single fang can come to be worth between and 20.000 and 175.000, depending on the size. In Africa, however, they are not always exchanged for money. Sometimes they are sold in exchange for ammunition: only one fang can be worth 18.000 bullets.
“We have a group of North Sudanese inside the park, divided into small groups, who killed 15 elephants in just 30 days. It is about elephant hunters of great experience ", explains Jean Marc Froment, whose group co-manages the park, at the AFP news agency.
Despite this, countries such as Chad, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with elephant populations under extreme threat of poaching for their ivory, still show no real progress even to slow down. massacre of the majestic and beautiful elephants.
Roberta Ragni
Photo Credit Ifaw
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