By Dr Adam Cruise - AllAfrica An aerial survey has revealed a dramatic increase in elephant poaching in northern Botswana, with little official concern about reports of the poaching. There has been a sharp spike in elephant poaching in northern Botswana. However,...
By Ross Harvey - Daily Maverick Given how few big tuskers are left in the world (some estimates suggest fewer than 50), the agreement between Kenya and Tanzania to not hunt the Amboseli population couldn’t be more important. Five mature elephant bulls have been shot...
By Musinguzi Blanshe - Mongabay Environmental advocacy group AFIEGO has published a briefing saying the development of oil infrastructure in Uganda’s Murchison Falls National Park is disturbing wildlife and causing increased human-wildlife conflict in areas...
By Don Pinnock - Daily Maverick The campaign to free Pretoria Zoo’s elephant has been sustained for years, often with angry words, accusations and protests. Finally it’s official: Charlie is on his way into wild retirement. Zoos are not good places for elephants, and...
By Malavika Vyawahare, Mongabay Trophy hunters in Tanzania killed at least five male elephants with tusks weighing more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms). These iconic residents of Amboseli National Park in Kenya are known to venture into neighboring Tanzania, which...
By Adam Cruise - Daily Maverick Legalising trade will remove the stigma that rhino horn is illegal and could entice many more consumers into the market. The demand will then outstrip the legal supply and poaching will increase. This will push security measures beyond...
By Ross Harvey - Business Live There are three major problems with the idea that elephant numbers have exploded If you’ve had a conversation with anyone recently returned from the Kruger National Park (KNP), you’re likely to hear: “It was lekker, but there are too...
By Ryan Truscott - Mongabay In parts of Southern Africa, elephants engage in “hedging” by breaking off the branches of hardwood mopane trees, snapping their trunks in two or pushing them over. Consequently, large areas of mopane forest are transformed into shrublands,...
By Don Pinnock - Daily Maverick The government’s plan to create mega-landscape conservation areas equal to seven Kruger Parks seems a brilliant idea but – according to wildlife NGOs and a law centre – it has fundamental flaws and should be redrafted. This is the...
By Joel Konopo - Botswana Guardiansun Why do politicians inflate the value of recreational hunting and community benefits when the economic evidence in favour of trophy hunting is thin? When a Botswana delegation visited the United Kingdom in March this year to...