UN concerned over high ivory seizures in Uganda
A Kenya Wildlife Service officer numbers elephant ivory tusks recently after a container full of tusks and destined for Malasyia was seized in a private yard in the Changamwe area, having come from Uganda at the ports of Mombasa. PHOTO BY AFP.
KAMPALA
Nine countries including Uganda will next week gather in Geneva, Switzerland to map out new mechanisms and operations against illicit ivory trade which the UN says is ‘alarming’.
The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to be attended by officials from Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Thailand Kenya, Tanzania, Philippines and South Africa, comes against the backdrop of findings that indicate an escalation in the killing of elephants for their tusks.
The convention’s secretary general Mr John Scanlon, described the situation as “dire” ahead of the five-days meeting.
“Africa’s elephants continue to face an immediate threat to their survival from high-levels of poaching for their ivory with over 20,000 elephants illegally killed last year.”
The UN observed that, “for the first time” the number of ivory seized in Africa exceeded that in Asia with the three East African countries, including Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania accounting for 80 per cent seizures.
Realistic figure
The reasons exacerbating ivory trade, provided are weak governance, poverty and high demand for ivory.
In Kampala, the deputy director of conservation at the Uganda Wild Authority, Mr Charles Tumwesigye, said, whereas the UN figure could be realistic, it does not point to the wanton killing of elephants in Uganda’s national parks. “I don’t know about other countries but Uganda is largely a conduit for ivory and once confiscated, it takes a long time to establish its origin.”
