2016-03-01 - , Congo.
Elephants in the vast Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) face a precarious future following reports that armed gangs of poachers are wreaking havoc in the game reserve, threatening both the animals and rangers. According to reports, last year, about 114 elephants were killed in the Garamba National Park, located in the north-eastern part of the DRC.
2015-11-10 - Ituri, Congo. Dana Sanchez
The only way to save the fast-disappearing elephant population in DRC’s Virunga National Park is for rangers to be with them around the clock, says park director Emmanuel de Merode in an MSN video. The park has lost 95 percent of its elephants. With just 195 elephants left, rangers are turning to a solution they say may be the easiest: satellite collars on the elephants.
2015-11-10 - Garamba National Park, Congo.
More than 200 elephants have been poached in Garamba since a census in April 2014 counted 1,780 elephants - down from more than 11,000 two decades ago. The shootout last month, in which three rangers and a Congolese army colonel were killed, highlights the challenge of protecting parks in a part of Africa plagued for decades by insurgencies, civil war, refugee flows and weak governments. It shows how some conservation efforts resemble a kind of guerrilla warfare in which rangers and soldiers sta...
2015-11-09 - Garamba National Park, Congo.
Ivory trade is so lucrative that gangs have been formed for the killing of thousands of elephants. The don of these gangs, Boniface Matthew Mariango, has been caught and arrested by Tanzanian officials according to John R. Platt, who writes for Scientific American as well as other publications.
2013-11-01 - Odzala National Park, Congo.
In its first push, 56 former poachers applied to become park rangers, but the park only had the ability to train 28 of them. Thursday, the parks, along with the Richardson Center—a nonprofit group set up by former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson—announced plans to make the program permanent. They’ll be building a training facility sometime within the next six months and plan to sign up more poachers in early 2014.
2012-04-25 - Garamba National Park, Congo.
In a scene of inconceivable horror, these slaughtered elephant carcasses show the barbaric lengths poachers will go to in their hunt for nature´s grim booty. The bodies were among a herd of 22 animals massacred in a helicopter-borne attack by professionals who swooped over their quarry. The scene beneath the rotor blades would have been chilling - panicked mothers shielding their young, hair-raising screeches and a mad scramble through the blood-stained bush as bullets rained down from the...
2012-03-06 - Virunga park, Congo.
Rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo´s Virunga park have a new weapon in their fight against poachers. National Park authorities have trained five bloodhound dogs to track elephant poachers after a spate of incidents. The first investigation using the dogs was carried out last week and led to the discovery of illegal weapons.
2012-02-13 - Kinshasa, Congo.
Over 500 elephants have been killed by poachers at DR Congo´s Virunga national park since 2010, a senior government official has revealed. An official of the Congolese Institute for Conservation of Nature (ICCN) decried the incidents of poaching at the Virunga national park which is considered as a World Heritage site by Unesco, Xinhua reported Thursday.
2012-02-09 - KINSHASA, Congo.
2011-11-10 - Kinshasa, Congo.
In some of the best-documented cases to date, the study shows the elephant population in the Okapi Faunal Reserve – one of the last strongholds of forest elephants in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – saw a 50 per cent decline in the last decade due to civil war and ivory poaching, from 6,439 to 3,288. In other parks in eastern DRC, the decimation was even greater.
2010-09-07 - Kinshasa, Congo.
Police in southeastern Congo say they have arrested three men carrying six suitcases full of elephant tusks. Anti-smuggling commission co-ordinator Placide Magungu said Tuesday the three Chinese nationals were caught at Lumumbashi´s airport while trying to fly to Nairobi, Kenya. He says the men said they bought the ivory from antique dealers.
2010-08-27 - Kinshasa, Congo.
Police in northeastern Congo have seized 116 elephant tusks and arrested two men following a truck crash. Col. Sylvain Tshikez said Wednesday that the ivory was found inside jerry cans that tumbled off a truck involved in a crash. The discovery took place near the town of Kisangani in the northeastern Orientale province following the accident. The owner of the vehicle was seriously injured but was also expected to face charges.
2010-07-19 - Kinshasa, Congo.
Since being fingered as one of the countries promoting illegal trade in Ivory, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has vowed tost rengthened the struggle against the trade. To date, more than 11 tonnes of Ivory, seized from traffickers and poachers, are kept at the Central Bank of Congo, PANA learned from the executive director of the Congolese Institute for Conservation of Nature (ICCN), Cosma Wilungula.
2010-03-14 - Goma, Congo.
D.R. Congos internal wars officially ended in 2005, but for Congos elephants war goes on. An international appetite has ivory prices soaring. Other appetites are whetted: National governments who want to sell legal ivory stocks, smugglers who want to move illegal ivory across borders, poachers who want to avoid risk, but still supply smugglers. For well-armed military, poaching risk is low. In Congo, battalions of military surround national parks, the last arenas of the war and the last rema...
2009-02-28 - Kinshasa, Congo.
I was 14 years old when I went elephant hunting for the first time with my uncle. This was during the boom in ivory prices in the early 80s. We hunted mainly inside the Salonga National Park (west of TL2). My ethnic group, the Libinza , are renowned hunters and, alas, were one of main groups to decimate the Park’s elephants. My uncles were traditionally fishermen or hunters of monkeys and some large mammals including buffalo, bongo and hippopotamus. But when the price of ivory went up, the...
2008-08-26 - Virunga, Congo.
The director of one of central Africa's most important wildlife reserves has warned that rebels and soldiers from the Democratic Republic of Congo are increasingly targeting elephants in the area to supply ivory to china. In an interview with the Bloomberg news agency, Virunga National Park's director, Emmanuel de Merode, warned that as many as ten per cent of the area's elephant population has been killed by poachers in recent years. Specifically, Mr de Merode said that seven elephants have bee...
2008-08-25 - Kinshasa, Congo. Franz Wild
Rebels and soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed more than a 10th of the elephants in one of Africa's oldest national parks as demand for ivory in China grows, said Emmanuel de Merode, director of the Virunga National Park. Members of a Rwandan militia in the country's eastern North Kivu province killed seven elephants in the last two weeks, taking this year's total to 24, de Merode said today in an interview from the park's headquarters in Rumangabo.
2008-08-24 - Kinshasa, Congo. Wildlife extra
Two elephants have been killed by FDLR rebels near Rwindi, in the central sector of Virunga National Park. The FDLR are comprised of Hutu militia who were involved in the Rwandan genocide. A group of Congo Rangers had gone on patrol on the Rwindi plain encountered a group of FDLR poachers. A gunfight ensued and the Rangers were able to push the rebels back. No-one was injured on either side and the rebels escaped. The Rangers then discovered the bodies of two elephants that the rebels had killed...
2008-08-22 - Kinshasa, Congo. Joe Bavier
Poachers in Congo have killed a fifthof the elephants in Africa's oldest national park this year asChina buys more ivory, the park's director said on Friday. Rwandan rebels have killed seven Savannah elephants in thepast 10 days alone in the Virunga National Park, along Congo'seastern border with Rwanda and Uganda, Emmanuel de Merode toldReuters. "We've definitely lost 20 percent of the population thisyear and probably more," he said. "We have rangers with them,and we're trying to reinforce them...
Poachers in Congo have killed a fifth of the elephants in Africa's oldest national park this year as China buys more ivory, the park's director said on Friday. Rwandan rebels have killed seven Savannah elephants in the past 10 days alone in the Virunga National Park, along Congo's eastern border with Rwanda and Uganda, Emmanuel de Merode told Reuters. "We've definitely lost 20 percent of the population this year and probably more," he said. "We have rangers with them, and we're trying to reinfor...
2008-03-09 - Kinshasa, Congo.
Garamba: “The Sudanese horsemen have killed almost 1,000 elephants in the past year and are on the verge of eliminating the last wild population of northern white rhinos.” (Norton. Interior Secretary of USA, 2004) Salonga: Large scale bushmeat hunting started rather recently (southern Salonga). Hunting with automatic weapons changed from mainly elephants for ivory to monkeys for the lucrative bushmeat trade… (reasearcher 2007), Virungas : “…four buffalo shot down, 14 colobus shot down,...
2007-08-24 - Brazzaville, Congo. Christian Tsoumou
Herds of elephants are trampling crops and polluting water sources in eastern Republic of Congo, threatening to force thousands of villagers out of their homes, the forestry minister said on Friday. Around 10,000 people in Ingouni-Moke and Olounou I, 250 km (155 miles) north of the capital Brazzaville, have been in a stand-off for more than a week with the elephants which have laid waste their manioc fields. There is a proliferation of pachyderms. Today we have nearly 30,000 whereas in the 1980s...
2007-04-03 - Brazzaville, Congo. Blake S, Strindberg S, Boudjan P, Makombo C, Bila-Isia I, Ilambu O, Grossmann F, Bene-Bene L, de Semboli B, Mbenzo V, S'hwa D, Bayogo R, Williamson L, Fay M, Hart J, Maisels F.
Most African savannah elephant populations are well known; however, the status of forest elephants, perhaps a distinct species, in the vast Congo Basin is unclear. We assessed population status and incidence of poaching from line-transect and reconnaissance surveys conducted on foot in sites throughout the Congo Basin. Results indicate that the abundance and range of forest elephants are threatened from poaching that is most intense close to roads.
2007-03-07 - BRAZZAVILLE, Congo.
Conservationists hope chillies and hi-tech geophones will help protect fields from elephants in Congo Republic, where villagers are fed up with pachyderms eating their crops. Forest elephants from the nearby Odzala-Koukoua National Park have eaten crops from dozens of fields in the area over the last few months, raising the possibility of a targeted cull to kill troop leaders which lead other animals into the fields in two problem areas.
2007-01-21 - Vitshumbi, Congo. Congo Rangers
Approximately 25 hippos and 3 elephants have been killed at Vitshumbi in the last few days. This is an area where we had estimated around 30 hippos to exist following our last aerial census of the park. The prognosis does not look good and by now it may well be too late to save the last few individuals. ICCN rangers are being prevented to carry out their legal mandate to patrol in the area and protect the wildlife due to the presence of these armed groups, and in the absence of respect for a rec...
2006-12-08 - Mouadje Bai, Congo. Zeeya Merali, issue 2581 of New Scientist magazine
By the time Steve Gulick arrived, it was too late. The poachers had struck, and elephant carcasses carpeted the floor. "You could step from body to body without your feet touching the ground," he says. "Whole elephant families lay next to each other, gunned down for their tusks." The massacre had taken place in the Mouadje Bai rainforest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), at a spot well known among local poachers for the rich haul of ivory it can yield.
2006-10-19 - Virunga, Congo.
Lake Edward in the centre of the park in the Democratic Republic of Congo was once home to Africa's greatest concentration of these magnificent beasts. But during the last fortnight alone, more than 400 hippos have been slaughtered as well as a number of buffalo, elephants and other animals. Conservationists at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) say that a Congolese militia group is understood to have killed half the hippo population in the park since setting up a base there two weeks ago.
2006-06-20 - Virunga, Congo.
Large mammals are recovering after years of decline in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, researchers said today. Virunga is the most species-rich park in Africa. Civil war and poaching in recent years had reduced the elephant population from 4,300 in the 1960s to just 265 three years ago. In a new census, the population was up to 340.
2005-09-30 - Kinshasa, Congo.
LRA rebels are terrorising civilians and killing wildlife in the restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC officials said Thursday. A band of fighters led by the group's deputy chief Vincent Otti that fled to the DRC earlier this month have terrified the local population and have begun poaching elephants in Garamba National Park, they said.
2005-02-05 - BRAZZAVILLE, Congo. BRYAN MEALER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Leaders of seven Central African countries signed a landmark treaty on Saturday to work together to help save the world's second largest rain forest. French President Jacques Chirac attended the ceremony, which concluded a two-day summit focusing on threats to the great forests of the Congo Basin. The forests make up very heart of Africa, encompassing 500 million acres stretching though 10 countries. They are also home to more than half Africa's animal species, incl...
2005-01-21 - Kinshasa, Congo.
The Democratic Republic of Congo's police and army have been accused of involvement in rampant poaching that threatens to wipe out the elephants in a world heritage site in the east of the country, a study has warned. An estimated 17 tons of ivory were smuggled out of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the volatile Ituri district during the last six months of last year alone, the investigation by the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature established. "Although a sig...
2005-01-20 - Kinshasa, Congo. David Lewis
A new report on ivory poaching in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has picked out the country's fractious army and the police among those heavily involved. The study by Congo's national conservation body warns that if poaching continues at the current level, forest elephants will be threatened with extinction in the east of country. Congo's five-year war may have officially come to an end in 2003, but for conservationists working in the lawless east of the vast Afri...
2004-12-19 - MBOMO, Congo. Khaleej Times
Ivory poaching is rife in a national park in the north of the Congo Republic because unemployment is rife here, too. Just out of jail after a three-month sentence for illicit ivory trafficking, Jean is already all set for his next elephant hunt in Odzala-Kokoua National Park.
2022-09-29 - Pattaya, Thailand.
follow us in feedly The third baby elephant of the year has been born at a botanical garden in Pattaya. The Nong Nooch Gardens Pattaya welcomed the new little member, named “Ply Poa Jai” wi...
2022-09-23 - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
‘Bandula’, the elephant found at the National Zoological Garden in Dehiwala is reported to have passed away today. According to reports, the elephant had suddenly fallen ill and had collapsed twic...
2022-08-29 - Katmandu, Nepal.
The elephant named Loktantra Kali at the Koshi Tappu gave birth to a female calf while Saraswoti Kali at the CNP delivered a male calf on Sunday. Nepal is presently home to around 225 indigenous eleph...
2022-08-21 - Hanoi, Vietnam.
A national action plan on elephant conservation in Vietnam for 2023-2032 with a vision for 2050 is being developed. According to the summary report of the General Department of Forestry, the number of...
2022-08-21 - Indawgyi, Myanmar.
The owner of the elephant and the elephant were killed when a landmine exploded at the border of Sagaing Region and Kachin State on August 15 according to sources. They stepped on the landmine when a ...
2022-08-20 - Toronto, Canada.
Moazu Kromah, 49, made millions of dollars poaching and trafficking elephant tusks and rhino horns from endangered animals and was ordered caged Thursday in New York. Kromah and two confederates were ...
2022-08-20 - Khuekkhak, Thailand. Lean Jinghui
An elephant in Thailand has reportedly ripped its mahout (elephant rider or keeper) in half after being overworked. According to The Thaiger, the incident happened at a rubber plantation in the Phang ...
2022-08-19 - New Delhi, India.
Elephant-human conflicts have been on the rise in India as a result of habitat loss, and experts say such conflicts could get worse unless forested areas are protected and migration corridors restored...
2022-08-18 - Mysore, India.
A week after embarking on a practice walk on Jamboo Savari route, howdah elephant Abhimanyu entered the second phase of training on Thursday. The 300-kg sand bags were mounted on Abhimanyu after perfo...
2022-08-16 - Karachi, Pakistan.
Global organisation, Four Paws have sent their veterinarian doctors to Karachi for the treatment of elephants. The team of four doctors have arrived in Pakistan to treat four female elephants- two of ...
2022-08-15 - Chittoor, India.
Jayanth (65) and Vinayak (52) are kumkis (trained elephants), faithfully serving the Forest Department in Chittoor district for more than two decades. Housed at the Naniyala forest camp in the Koundin...
2022-08-14 - Lakhimpur Kheri, India.
Chief conservator of forests and field director, Sanjay Kumar Pathak has decided to document the experiences of these veteran mahouts so that not only the park authorities but other mahouts also benef...
2022-08-12 - Grand Rapids, United States.
Several people are working to unearth mastodon bones in a West Michigan field after they were discovered during a road construction project. The bones are expected to be donated to the Grand Rapids Pu...
2022-08-11 - Theppakadu, India.
Wasim’s trunk pauses midair as he reaches for a bamboo shoot. His mahout, M Eswaran, calls out a command from a distance and in a split second, the elephant changes course. The shoot is far from his...
2022-08-08 - Rhakine, Myanmar. Team Udayadani
A rare white elephant took birth in western Myanmar. The white elephant was born last month in western Rakhine state and currently weighs 180 pounds (80 kilograms) and its height is 2.5 feet (70 centi...
2022-07-18 - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Travelling north from Siem Reap city on National Road 64 for about 90 minutes you will reach a wooden bridge that will take you to the headquarters of the Kulen Elephant Forest Sanctuary, the home of ...
2022-07-10 - Panna, India.
A 55-year-old elephant is held captive in chains and shackels in the Panna Tiger Reserve after the elephant brutally killed its mahout Budhram Rotiya on Monday, said an official. Ever since its arriva...
2022-07-08 - Mysore, India.
The Forest Department will initiate the process of identifying elephants for Mysuru Dasara-2022 from July 15 onwards and the jumbos for the finale is likely to be finalised by July 30, ahead of the Da...
2022-05-26 - Higashiosaka, Japan. Jackson White
During a remarkable scientific experiment, cells from a woolly mammoth that died over 28,000 years ago began displaying “signs of life.” The cells from the 28,000-year-old specimen began to displa...
2022-04-27 - Pollachi, India.
Vijayalakshmi, the second oldest camp elephant of the Tamil forest department, died at the age of 71 in the Kozhikamuthi elephant camp in the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) on Wednesday afternoon. The ...
