Autor: reaev

“If elephants in Tanzania are not protected from greedy poachers, the animals will be declared extinct within 10 years,“ warns Prof Pierre Pfeffer, a renowned wildlife conservationist who has spent most of his life in Africa, including Tanzania, studying the African jumbos.

The 83-year-old professor of Natural History Museum in Paris, France, who spent over 50 years studying elephants in Africa, adds: “During my spell in Africa from 1950 through 2000 scenes of dead elephants were everyday experience.“ „Elephant Poaching in Tanzania: World supports government anti-poaching crusade“ weiterlesen

A smuggler of rare elephant ivory was sentenced to nearly three years in prison Wednesday for illegally bringing shipments of carvings from Africa to the U.S.

Judge Sterling Johnson, Jr. in Brooklyn federal also fined Tamba Kaba $25,000 importing the ivory from Nigeria and Ugand in air cargo shipments.

The 71 carvings, made from elephant tusks, were secreted inside wooden and metal handicrafts containing hollow cores.

Kaba was convicted in June following a probe conducted by the US Fish & Wildlife Service and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The approximate market value of the carvings was $73,300, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, which prosecuted the case.

Importing ivory into the US has been illegal since 1975 and African elephants are listed are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Despite these and other international measures to stop the illicit ivory trade, demand among collectors remains steady.

Source: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/smuggler_of_elephant_ivory_gets_uy8y3OvwCODY3nAfNovyPJ#ixzz18HrvVqRR