May 14th, 2013 at 8:00AM: Two poachers illegally hunting inside Zimbabwe's Charara National Park had the tables unexpectedly turned on them recently. The two men slipped into the reserve unnoticed where they had hoped to kill an elephant and harvest its ivory tusks for sale on the black market in Asia. But their excursion ended up going horribly wrong leaving one of the men in the hands of the authorities and the other ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Elephants posts
Alleged Poacher Trampled To Death By Elephant In Zimbabwe
May 14th, 2013 at 8:00AM: Two poachers illegally hunting inside Zimbabwe's Charara National Park had the tables unexpectedly turned on them recently. The two men slipped into the reserve unnoticed where they had hoped to kill an elephant and harvest its ivory tusks for sale on the black market in Asia. But their excursion ended up going horribly wrong leaving one of the men in the hands of the authorities and the other ...Elephants May Be Extinct In Tanzania In A Few Years
May 4th, 2013 at 1:00PM: Jumbo Elephants may disappear from Tanzania within seven years if current poaching trends continue, Sabahi news service reports.
The Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute counted 109,000 elephants in 2009. In 2012, the number had sunk below 70,000. This is due to a surge in poaching. Elephant ivory commands high prices on the international black market. If current trends continue, the elephants ...Rhinos Now Extinct In Mozambique's Limpopo National Park
May 1st, 2013 at 8:00AM: An official from the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique made a sobering announcement this week when it was revealed that rhinos are now extinct inside the park. António Abacar, the park's director, indicated that no rhinos have been spotted in Limpopo since January, which leads him to believe that poachers have killed the few animals that had remained. With rhinos now gone, he believes ...Elephant Attacks Car In South Africa's Kruger National Park
Apr 17th, 2013 at 8:00AM: Most visitors to South Africa's Kruger National Park hope that they'll have a memorable wildlife encounter while exploring the popular game reserve. Earlier this week one couple certainly got their encounter when they were attacked by an elephant, leaving their vehicle completely demolished and landing both of them in the hospital.
The unnamed travelers were said to be of "Chinese origin" with ...Thailand Announces End Of Ivory Trade
Mar 5th, 2013 at 8:00AM: It's no secret that the demand for ivory in Asia has led to the slaughter of countless elephants in Africa. Whole herds have been decimated over the past decade and many African countries have watched their elephant populations dwindle to historically low levels. But on Sunday, the fight against the illegal ivory trade got a much needed boost when the Prime Minister of Thailand announced that her ...More Than 11,000 Elephants Poached In Gabon In Past Decade, Officials Estimate
Feb 7th, 2013 at 3:00PM: The West African nation of Gabon has one of the largest populations of elephants in the world, yet now they're in danger of being wiped out for their ivory.
The World Wildlife Fund reports that a study done by itself in cooperation with the Gabonese National Parks Agency and the Wildlife Conservation Society found that up to 11,000 elephants were killed by poachers in Gabon since 2004. That may ...Video: 2 Weeks In Rwanda
Jan 17th, 2013 at 11:00AM:
"Rwanda, our beautiful and dear country / Adorned of hills, lakes and volcanoes / Motherland, would be always filled of happiness..."
These first three lines of the Rwandan national anthem are epitomized in this video created by Missouri based video production company Mammoth Media. This past summer, they were invited by the Rwandan tourist department to spend two weeks capturing ...
Illegal Ivory Trade Surged To Highest Level Ever In 2011
Jan 6th, 2013 at 9:00AM: A new report from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) indicates that the illegal ivory trade has risen to its highest point in two decades following a sharp upturn in seizure of large shipments of the elephant tusks in recent years. The same report says that 2011 was the worst year on record with a "major surge" in the illegal trafficking of ivory.
The full ...Tanzania Planning To Sell 100 Tons Of Ivory
Oct 11th, 2012 at 8:00AM: Tanzania has formally applied to the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species requesting permission to sell off its massive stockpile of ivory. The East African country has more than 100 tons of ivory in storage and wants to conduct a one-time sale to China and Japan. Proceeds from the sale would help fund elephant conservation efforts throughout the country, but the plan has drawn ...Largest international conservation area formed in southern Africa
Mar 18th, 2012 at 11:00AM: On Thursday of this week five nations in southern Africa announced plans to form a new international conservation area that will be the largest of its kind once it is complete. This unprecedented move was made to allow the participating nations to combine their conservation efforts and combat illegal poaching in a more efficient manner.
Under the agreement, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola and ...Poachers kill 200 elephants in Cameroon already this year
Feb 19th, 2012 at 8:00AM: Government officials in Cameroon have announced that poachers have already killed more than 200 elephants in 2012, which is a startling number considering we're only about six weeks into the year. A growing demand for ivory in Asia is blamed for the massive rise in poaching, which is having devastating effects on the pachyderm population in central Africa.
On Friday, Gambo Haman, the governor ...Vagabond Tales: Swimming with elephants in Thailand
Feb 9th, 2012 at 10:00AM:
Anyone who has visited Thailand will recognize the word Chang.
The national beer of Thailand, the over sized green bottles are found everywhere from the markets of Chiang Mai to the bars of Bangkok's Khao San Road. In the Thai language, however, Chang does not mean beer. It means elephant. Hence the ornately drawn white elephant placed prominently on the bottle.
Another Thai word you may ...Ivory poaching on the rise thanks to Asian demand and a legal loophole
Jan 2nd, 2012 at 4:00PM: The poaching of elephant tusks is a growing problem due to increased demand from Asian nations, the Kenyan newspaper Business Daily reports.
A loophole in the UN law regulating the ivory trade allows Japan and China to legally purchase some ivory from selected nations under tightly controlled contracts. This has encouraged poachers to smuggle their illegal goods to Asia. Once there, it's much ...African governments doing more to stop poaching of endangered species
Sep 30th, 2011 at 2:30PM: This year in Africa, the fight between law enforcement and poachers of endangered species has flared into a war.
In the first two months of 2011, nine poachers were shot dead in South Africa. Despite this, poaching is up. In that nation alone, 333 rhinos were killed in 2010, and there have been 309 rhinos poached so far this year. It looks like the illegal hunters are set to break a grisly ...Elephants break out of Tsavo West National Park, locals go into hiding
May 6th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
More than 500 elephants strayed out of Tsavo West National Park in Kenya, destroying crops and scaring villagers before being herded back onto park property, the Nairobi Star reports.
The elephants were simply grazing and looking for water, park officials say, but that doesn't reassure villagers who saw their fields trampled. The elephants wandered through five villages and there are reports ...Ethiopia's Somali region: a potential adventure travel destination?
Mar 31st, 2011 at 9:00AM:
As I mentioned yesterday, I've been exploring Ethiopia's Somali region. While my quest for Ahmed Guray's castle was a failure, I did see potential for adventure travel in the region.
Adventure travelers generally are looking for three things: historical sights, interesting cultures, and natural wonders. The Somali region is a bit short of historical sights, although there are a few of interest, ...Luang Prabang - 3 days in Laos
Mar 23rd, 2011 at 10:00AM:
Luang Prabang is lush, quaint, and improbable. This magical town of butterflies and baguettes seems to exist on dreamlike terms - an island of civility in the savage jungle of Laos. Sometimes a pinch is justifiable to confirm the reality of it all. The green hills, gorgeous colonial buildings, and kind villagers all combine to form a thriving UNESCO heritage city that is Southeast Asia with ...On safari in Kruger National Park
Mar 21st, 2011 at 8:30AM: The African safari remains one of the most amazing experiences that any traveler could hope to enjoy. The boundless wildlife that is on display there is one of the greatest natural wonders in the world, and watching those hundreds of different species in their natural habitats is a source of never ending wonder.
There are two classic destinations to experience the African safari, the Serengeti, ...Explorers look to save elephants, end ivory trade
Mar 13th, 2011 at 8:00AM: Two American explorers are heading to Africa today to begin an important expedition that could prove vital to the fight against the illegal ivory trade. Their five week long journey, dubbed the Elephant Ivory Project, may help to save herds of those creatures, which have come increasingly under attack from poachers in recent years.
Former National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Trip Jennings ...Africa has mixed results in fighting poachers
Nov 27th, 2010 at 2:00PM: One of the main reasons adventure travelers head to Africa is for the wildlife. Sadly, that wildlife is in danger of disappearing thanks to illegal poaching. Big game such as rhinos and elephants can bring in large sums of money for their tusks, hide, and meat.
Namibia has been one country that has been successful in the fight against poaching in the face of a continent-wide rise in illegal ...
