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Kenya's new front in poaching battle: 'the future is in the hands of our communities'
Monday 30 May 2016 09.40 BST
In a country hit by a devastating poaching surge for rhino horn and elephant ivory, local people are turning the tide – but the wider problems of demand, corruption and organised crime remain
“It’s hard work. I cut their tusks off with an axe,” said Abdi Ali, a northern Kenyan pastoralist who became a full-time poacher at 14 years old. With three other men it took him about 10 minutes to kill each of the 27 elephants he poached, cutting off the trunk, splitting the skull and removing the ivory that would later fetch 500 Kenyan shillings (£3) a kilo.
But while he became rich compared to the cattle herders, who mostly live on less than $1 (68p) a day, he did not find happiness. “Much as I had money, it was money I couldn’t enjoy in peace, because I was on the run.”
Men like Ali are the bottom rung of a network of organised crime that is devastating Africa’s wildlife. It stretches from the remote wilds of Kenya to the port of Mombasa and out to China and south-east Asia, where an affluent middle class buy ground-up rhino horn as a status symbol and ivory is carved and sold as ornaments and trinkets.
This week, the UN Environment Programme launched a global campaign to end the multibillion dollar trade, backed by celebrities including footballer Yaya Touré and model Gisele Bündchen.
“It’s hard work. I cut their tusks off with an axe,” said Abdi Ali, a northern Kenyan pastoralist who became a full-time poacher at 14 years old. With three other men it took him about 10 minutes to kill each of the 27 elephants he poached, cutting off the trunk, splitting the skull and removing the ivory that would later fetch 500 Kenyan shillings (£3) a kilo.
But while he became rich compared to the cattle herders, who mostly live on less than $1 (68p) a day, he did not find happiness. “Much as I had money, it was money I couldn’t enjoy in peace, because I was on the run.”
Men like Ali are the bottom rung of a network of organised crime that is devastating Africa’s wildlife. It stretches from the remote wilds of Kenya to the port of Mombasa and out to China and south-east Asia, where an affluent middle class buy ground-up rhino horn as a status symbol and ivory is carved and sold as ornaments and trinkets.
This week, the UN Environment Programme launched a global campaign to end the multibillion dollar trade, backed by celebrities including footballer Yaya Touré and model Gisele Bündchen.
Link: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/30/kenya-poaching-elephant-ivory-rhino-horn-future-communities
