The Time Is Running Out

I found this amazing article on the National Geographic site, written by Mr. Iain Douglas

Hamilton (See another post about him here)  On the site, there are some pictures, but I decided not to include them as they are of a dead elephant, Changila, and some of the photos are gruesome.  However, on a happier note, you can view this article below, minus those pictures!

Dr. Iain Douglas Hamilton, a hero to his elephant friends! (And me!)

Time Running out to Save Elephants from Ivory Trade

"The new wave of killing of elephants in Africa is in many ways far graver than the crisis of the 1970s and 80s. Firstly there are fewer elephants, and secondly the demand for ivory is far higher. Record ivory prices in the Far East are fueling poachers, organized crime and political instability right across the African elephant range. And the situation shows no sign of calming.

In January last year, Janjaweed militia gunned down more than 300 elephants in Bouba N’Djida National Park in Cameroon. In March, 22 elephants in Garamba National Park, DRC, were slaughtered in a single attack, many with shots to the top of the head. A Ugandan army helicopter was seen flying low-level over the park a few days after. In December 2012, an illegal shipment of 6 tons of poached ivory was seized in Malaysia, one of the largest such hauls in recent history. Over the last decade Zakouma National Park in Chad has lost 90 per cent of its elephants.

As if we needed more evidence of the dire situation, at the time of writing news arrived from our study area in Northern Kenya that three adult elephants have been found dead in a pile near Isiolo, evidence that experienced gunmen are at work. Littered around that valley were at least twenty more fresh carcasses. This well-monitored elephant population has suffered higher levels of illegal killing in 2012 than in any other year on record."

~Iain Douglas Hamilton in National Geographic

Top photo: Changila’s identfication picture.
Second photo: Changila’s body as it was found the following morning. It had been covered with branches to make it invisible from the air.
Third photo: Vultures on Changila’s remains as seen from STE’s aircraft six days after the shooting.

Go make a difference!