Ban Sought on U.S. Trophy Hunters’ Imports of Famed Amboseli Elephants
Ban Sought on U.S. Trophy Hunters’ Imports of Famed Amboseli Elephants
Center for Biological Diversity
July 8, 2024
See link
https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/ban-sought-on-us-trophy-hunters-imports-of-famed-amboseli-elephants-2024-07-08/
for photo.
Population Subjected to Trophy Hunting for First Time Since 1994
WASHINGTON— Conservation groups and scientists filed a petition with the
United States government today to stop U.S. hunters from importing elephant
trophies from the famed cross-border Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro elephant
population inhabiting Kenya and Tanzania. For 30 years this longest-studied
elephant population was safe from trophy hunters but now some of the
world’s most iconic male elephants are at risk of being killed in the
Tanzanian portion of their range if trophy hunting is allowed to continue.
Today’s petition to the Interior Department and the Fish and Wildlife
Service seeks a permanent rule banning U.S. trophy imports from the
Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro elephant population. The petition was filed by
Amboseli Trust for Elephants, ElephantVoices and the Center for Biological
Diversity.
Over the past nine months, five mature males have been killed by trophy
hunters. At least two of them qualify as “super-tuskers,” with one or more
tusks weighing 100 pounds. Among the five killed, only one has been
identified — an elephant named Gilgil. In an unprecedented practice, all
the carcasses were burned and some were also buried, presumably to prevent
identification of the animals.
“Singling out male elephants with large tusks takes away the natural
elements of competition and survivorship, allowing younger, less tested,
perhaps less vigorous males to reproduce,” said Cynthia Moss, director of
Amboseli Trust for Elephants. “A population that is hunted becomes
unnatural because humans are choosing who should pass on his genes and who
should not, who should live and who should die.”
Prior to the latest killings, no males from the Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro
population had been shot for their tusks since 1994, when four were killed.
Following that incident, an informal agreement was reached between the two
countries to protect the population from hunting on the Tanzanian side of
the border. Kenya does not permit trophy hunting.
“These magnificent prime breeding males hold immense sustainable
biological, economic and cultural value while alive, but their contribution
to both human and elephant societies ends once they’re killed,” said Joyce
Poole, scientific director at ElephantVoices. “As the largest importer of
elephant trophies from Tanzania, the U.S. could greatly help protect these
elephants by preventing the importation of tusks from this unique
population.”
A U.S. trophy hunter from Texas killed one of the elephants in the recent
hunts, and it’s likely others from the United States have been involved as
well. The U.S. is the largest importer globally of elephant trophies from
Tanzania. Shutting down the U.S. market could go a long way toward
protecting these elephants from trophy hunters’ bullets.
“Seventy percent of Africa's elephants are in transboundary populations and
hunting should not be carried out without first considering whether it
harms the resources of a neighboring country, particularly when wildlife
policies differ as in the case of Kenya and Tanzania,” said Keith Lindsay,
collaborating researcher Amboseli Trust for Elephants. “This view is shared
by elephant conservation organizations and by international agreements,
such as the Convention on Migratory Species.”
Scientists estimate there are only 20-25 remaining mature males from the
population that spends time in Tanzania and have intact tusks. Removal of
these mature bulls is detrimental to the Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro
population. Those males are preferred by females for breeding, needed for
social structure and cohesion, help perpetuate the unique large-tusked
genes in the population, and are a huge draw for photo-seeking tourists in
both Kenya and Tanzania.
Researcher Cynthia Moss began studying the Amboseli elephants 51 years ago,
selecting the population because it was well-protected. Research by Moss
and her colleagues has formed the basis of much of what’s known today about
elephants, including the recent study finding that elephants use names for
each other.
“My heart is breaking for these elephants and the scientists who know them
like family. I’m enraged that anyone would allow members of this cherished
and famous population to be shot down for sport,” said Tanya Sanerib,
international legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “I
hope the U.S. government is courageous enough to protect this population in
perpetuity before it’s irrevocably decimated by trophy hunters.”
The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s 2020 reassessment of
elephants judged that African savanna elephants are endangered.