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
Excerpt from this story from the Daily Maverick:
Five mature elephant bulls have been shot by trophy hunters in Tanzania in the past eight months, at least two of which are said to have been “super-tuskers”. An unofficial agreement between Kenya and Tanzania had protected these elephants for 30 years. A new Avaaz petition rightly calls on the Tanzanian government to end the madness.
The Amboseli elephants have been studied extensively for nearly five decades now. Much of what we know about elephants is literally thanks to this set of remarkable elephant families.
The 30-year reprieve (and the fact that Kenya long ago banned trophy hunting) allowed the Amboseli population to thrive and produce some of the world’s most magnificent bull elephants despite the general population decimation trends across the continent. These trends only slowed after the US and China imposed domestic ivory trade bans in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
As renowned Amboseli elephant researcher Cynthia Moss told Africa Geographic, “shooting an Amboseli bull is about as sporting as shooting your neighbour’s poodle.”
It is unconscionably cruel to shoot highly habituated elephants for “sport”. As Moss, who is one of the leading Amboseli scientists, rightly points out, it is hardly “fair chase” or “ethical” to shoot an Amboseli bull with a high-calibre rifle.
Given how few big tuskers are left in the world (some estimates suggest fewer than 50), the agreement to leave the Amboseli population alone couldn’t be more important, not only for genetic heritage but for the sake of any future hope of human-elephant coexistence. Elephants are increasingly being born with smaller (or no) tusks in response to the rapacious history of poaching and trophy hunting for ivory over the past 200 years. Tuskless elephants have lost their essential “elephantness”.
In response to the recent killing, some of the world’s foremost elephant scientists penned a letter to Science, a leading academic journal, calling for authorities to end the trophy hunting of big-tusked elephants in northern Tanzania.
