Spain is one of the gateways to Europe for this clandestine trade
Near 20,000 elephant specimens die each year due to ivory trafficking, which represents an average of 54 per day, as revealed by the conservation organization WWF on the occasion of the celebration of World Elephant Day, which took place this Friday, August 12. Spain also plays a sad role in this environmental tragedy, since it is one of the great gateways for illegal ivory to Europe.
The aforementioned entity warns that, although it can live up to 60 years in the wild, “human greed has turned the elephant into a vulnerable being that dies young”, while pointing out that, if action is not taken in time, this species could disappear “forever”.
According to the entity, around 90% of the forest elephants, classified as ‘critically endangered’, have died and 60% of savannah elephants have disappeared in the last half century.
In addition, it points out that the Asian elephant is already below 40,000 copies, classified together with the savannah elephant, ‘endangered’. These three species of elephants are included in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
They are already born without fangs to survive
Similarly, they point out that the pressure from ivory fever is so high that in Mozambique the females are born without tusks to be able to survive and that poachers now hunt regardless of the age of the animal, something that causes the slaughter of 90% of the elephants in the Selous Reserve (Tanzania).
Likewise, the organization indicates that in addition to ivory, another of its threats is the destruction of its habitat due to the expansion of agriculture, livestock and deforestation.
WWF has been protecting the home of these animals in all countries for 60 years thanks to the creation of reserves, ecological corridors, installation of GPS collars and placement of cameras to know their needs and monitor their movements, he explains.
Likewise, the organization is committed to the fight against the trafficking of elephants that, thanks to the help of the guards, work with the governments to toughen the prosecution of this crime and prohibit its consumption, such as in China, where it can no longer be sold. ivory for six years.
However, they remember that “there are still many illegal markets to close and much to do, so we must not lower our guard.”
Spain, gateway to Europe for illegal ivory
“There is still illegal hunting, and in Spain there are quite a few seizures for being a key country and hot spot for trafficking in species and ivory due to its strategic position in transit between Africa and Asia&rdquor ;, as explained to Efe by the technician of the Endangered Species Program of WWF Spain, Laura Moreno.
Ivory trafficking is illegal from the moment of the entry into force of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and “there are still seizures of ivory in Spain & rdquor ;, has assured the technician of WWF, therefore, has stressed, “our authorities have an important role to pursue, detect and prevent it, and train those who fight against it”.
According to WWF, mafias act as a powerful criminal network that helps finance paramilitary guerrillas or terrorist groupsand traffic in their tusks, skin, and meat for their own consumption.
WWF Spain works through the European project LIFE Swipe jointly with organizations from 11 other European countries to train all those who fight against environmental crime and in the border cooperation between different actors, toughening the persecution of crime by governments to prohibit its consumption, although “there are still many illegal markets to close & rdquor ;, the organization has affirmed.
The numbers go down
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated that in the period 2010-2018, poaching killed more than 71,000 elephants in southern Africa, 58,000 in eastern Africa, and approximately 27,800 in central Africa.
Data from the Illegal Killing of Elephants Monitoring (MIKE) of CITES -of September 2020- registered between 2003 and the end of 2019, more than 20,712 corpses of elephants in 30 range states in Africa, a total of 711 deaths per area, in addition to the additional 1,294 elephant carcasses reported in 2019, of which 328 were illegally killed.
According to Moreno, CITES is complex because there are usually species that are included in different annexes with areas where the “trade in hunting trophies for non-commercial purposes” it is allowed for the income that it later contributes to the conservation of these species, as is the case of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) in areas such as South Africa or Zimbabwe.
However, although according to these data “The downward trends in poaching in southern and eastern Africa continue, and show signs of a downward trend in central Africa as well.”from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) have stated that “it is even more important to protect to elephants in the wild and to end to the ivory trade & rdquor ;.
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