poaching - The African Mirror

Jan

2023

Climate change is leaving African elephants desperate for water

RACHAEL GROSS and ROB HEINSOHN AFRICAN elephant numbers have dropped from about 26 million in the 1800s to 415,000 today. While this is largely due to European colonisation, poaching and habitat loss, these majestic animals now face another grave challenge. Climate change is causing droughts in much of Africa to become longer and more severe. This damages elephant habitats and denies them the water they need. Due to their unique physiology, African elephants need hundreds of litres of water each day to survive. The African savanna elephant is listed as endangered. If the situation doesn’t change, Africa – indeed, the…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Forest rangers struggle to prevent poaching amid lockdowns

ENVIRONMENT

KANUPRIYA KAPOOR RANGER Atul Deokar's walkie-talkie crackled one October night. He heard his colleagues' panicked voices shouting for backup: They had been surrounded by 70 villagers armed with axes and sharpened sticks and demanding to hunt in India's protected Pench Tiger Reserve. The rangers fired into the air after the villagers attempted to set fire to the hut in which the patrol were holed up -- ending a 30-minute standoff that reflects the pressure that forests and wildlife have come under in Asia, Africa, and Latin America as a result of the pandemic. Forest officials on all three continents told…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe suspects elephants died from bacterial infection

NEWS

Eleven young elephants found dead near Zimbabwe’s biggest game park may have succumbed to a bacterial infection, the country’s parks agency said on Tuesday, after it ruled out poaching and cyanide poisoning. The elephant carcasses were discovered last Friday in Pandamasuwe Forest in western Zimbabwe, between Hwange National Park and Victoria Falls. The mysterious deaths came after Botswana reported the death of more than 200 elephants in June. Columbus Chaitezvi, principal veterinary officer at the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) said that, following preliminary tests, the agency suspected the elephants could have contracted a deadly bacterial infection while…