It goes without say that poaching is still a menace in several African countries. On Saturday, Tusks from over 6,000 illegally killed elephants will be set ablaze in Nairobi national park in Kenya to spotlight the poaching crisis. It will be the greatest destruction of an ivory heap up and the most remarkable symbol yet of the predicament of one of the last great beasts in nature.
The ceremonial burning scheduled to take place at noon will be graced by President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, heads of state including Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Ali Ondimba of Gabon, high ranking US and United Nations officials, and charities.
Several conservation groups worldwide have sent messages commending the move.
President Uhuru announced on Friday that Kenya would seek a ‘complete ban on elephant ivory trade’, at the conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), in Johannesburg this September. He said that the future of African rhino and elephant will continue to be endangered as long as there is still demand for their products.
Approximately 1.5 tons of rhino horn and 105 tons of elephant ivory will be set on fire in 11 large pyres. This surpasses the previous burns in a single event by about 7 times. The aim of the burn, which will take about four hours to burn completely, is to call attention into the continuous crisis in elephant populations.
It is estimated that about 30,000 to 50,000 elephants were killed from the year 2008 to 2013 alone. This statistics is according to the Born Free Foundation. The rate at which the killings are taking place is overtaking the rate of births in Africa.
20 tons of ivory still undergoing the legal process will be left.
Several celebrities including Ronnie Wood, the Rolling Stone and patron of the Tusk charity spoke out ahead of the burn. Ronnie remarked that it’s sad to think of how in 15 years or so to come, there would be few or no elephants, rhinos and lions at all, denying our future generations the experience of learning and loving them.
The first burn of ivory in Kenya took place in the year 1989 under president Daniel Arap Moi to show its determination to safeguard its remaining elephant population, which had reduced to 90% in the previous 15 years (from 168,000 to 15,000 elephants).
Kenya, Gabon, Uganda and Botswana altogether have over half the amount of elephants remaining. The founder of Save the Elephants, Iain Douglas-Hamilton said that cooperation was essential among African countries. Iain reported that the meeting bestows hope in political will to act on the challenges of trafficking, poaching and high-level corruption that terrorize the natural heritage of the continent.
Over 12 countries have conducted similar public destructions of products from endangered animals, including the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Other countries have tried allowing restricted exploitation for hinting and trophies of their remaining endangered animals as a system of conservation.
A wide range of NGOs call for the ban of this approach since all experiments to allow a legal, managed trade in ivory has failed.
Max Graham, chief executive of Kenyan charity Space for Giants said that the only solution to this crisis is ending the demand completely. However, it remains unknown how long it will take.