Delegates from African countries meet to discuss trade in live elephants (Gaborone, Botswana)
Delegates from African countries meet to discuss trade in live elephants
(Gaborone, Botswana)
Mqondisi Dube, VOA
September 24, 2024
Botswana is hosting delegates from 33 African elephant range states for
talks on the trade in live elephants. They are also seeking a common
position as Africa battles increasing elephant populations in some areas,
while the numbers decline elsewhere on the continent.
Botswana’s environment and tourism minister, Nnaniki Makwinja, said Africa
must speak with one voice despite the peculiar challenges each region faces.
"We are cognizant that the challenges that we face are diverse and there is
no silver bullet to address these challenges,” Makwinja said Monday during
the opening of the four-day meeting. “We call upon these countries to
engage with us before they adopt measures that may undermine our efforts to
conserve our wildlife heritage and sustainable development goals.”
In 2022, delegates from Africa attended talks in Panama on the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or
CITES. They were divided over elephant management.
Southern African nations want CITES to relax measures on elephant trade,
but some parts of the continent, particularly the eastern and western
areas, want stricter controls.
Dan Challender, a conservation scientist on the wildlife trade based at the
University of Oxford, said this week’s meeting in Botswana might not
address all concerns given the uneven distribution of the animals across
the continent.
“The meeting provides an opportunity for African countries to come together
and discuss trade in African elephants. I would expect them to find common
ground on some issues but not all, recognizing the different status of the
species and policy environments across the continent,” Challender said.
The meeting is open to governments, but non-profit conservation
organizations are not invited.
Local conservationist Isaac Theophilus of the Botswana Wildlife Producers
Association said delegates from countries that oppose trade in elephants
should get a chance to see the impact of human-wildlife conflict.
“We have two opposing blocks that will be seated around the same table to
look at issues relating to elephant management,” Theophilus said. “My hope
and wish is that those states attending would have an opportunity to
interact with people in the (wildlife) area and get firsthand information
relating to problems associated with living with an increasing elephant
population.”
Veterinarian and wildlife management expert Dr. Eric Verreynne said trade
in live elephants poses logistical challenges.
"Transporting elephants from one country to another brings with it some
challenges. Most of these challenges relate to logistics,” Verreynne said.
“They are bulk animals; it's very, very expensive to transport. When you
talk about females and calves, you have to take your family groups in one.
The capacity to transport large numbers of elephants is limited."
Africa’s elephant population is estimated at 415,000, with more than half
of the number living in southern Africa.