Ban Sought On U.S. Trophy Hunters’ Imports Of Famed Amboseli Elephants

[NamStay]

Ban Sought on U.S. Trophy Hunters’ Imports of Famed Amboseli Elephants

Center for Biological Diversity: Population Subjected to Trophy Hunting for First Time Since 1994

biologicaldiversity.org

WASHINGTON— Conservation groups and scientists filed a petition with the United States government today to stop U.S. hunters from importing elephant trophies from the famed cross-border Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro elephant population inhabiting Kenya and Tanzania. For 30 years this longest-studied elephant population was safe from trophy hunters but now some of the world’s most iconic male elephants are at risk of being killed in the Tanzanian portion of their range if trophy hunting is allowed to continue.

Today’s petition to the Interior Department and the Fish and Wildlife Service seeks a permanent rule banning U.S. trophy imports from the Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro elephant population. The petition was filed by Amboseli Trust for Elephants, ElephantVoices and the Center for Biological Diversity.

Over the past nine months, five mature males have been killed by trophy hunters. At least two of them qualify as “super-tuskers,” with one or more tusks weighing 100 pounds. Among the five killed, only one has been identified — an elephant named Gilgil. In an unprecedented practice, all the carcasses were burned and some were also buried, presumably to prevent identification of the animals.

“Singling out male elephants with large tusks takes away the natural elements of competition and survivorship, allowing younger, less tested, perhaps less vigorous males to reproduce,” said Cynthia Moss, director of Amboseli Trust for Elephants. “A population that is hunted becomes unnatural because humans are choosing who should pass on his genes and who should not, who should live and who should die.”

Before the latest killings, no males from the Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro population had been shot for their tusks since 1994, when four were killed. Following that incident, an informal agreement was reached between the two countries to protect the population from hunting on the Tanzanian side of the border. Kenya does not permit trophy hunting.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Instead of ”Conservation groups & Scientists”, let’s just call them what they really are: Animal Rights Activists. If these people are scientists, then Adolf Hitler was a Jewish rights activist.

You really have to love how these Disney Degree nutcases have a name for everything they see in the wild. Lions named Cecil, elephants named Gilgil.

In regards to why the carcasses were burnt, Masai (the tribal people in this part of Africa) don’t eat elephant meat. So it‘s not difficult to imagine why the carcasses were burnt. Otherwise, locals poison the carcasses in an attempt to knock off lions, leopards & hyenas which might be hassling their livestock.

 

[Sideshow]

Interesting to see that not one of the above groups that started this petition are from Tanzania.
Mrs Moss USA
Mrs Poole Norway
Mr Lindsay UK
Mrs Sanerib USA (Stop extinction activist)

 

[DieJager]

Let them pound sand

 

[PerH]

Not surprisingly and embarrassed over to see Norway mentioned there , so much naive money projects to the golden country Kenya . For many ngo organizations and groups here it is like Kenya is the only country there .

 

[Sideshow]

They seem to conveniently forget that Karen was not just married to a White hunter but also dated another…..
It’s okay though cause Kenya doesn’t have an elephant population problem…..the poachers take care of that

 

[1dirthawker]

“Singling out male elephants with large tusks takes away the natural elements of competition and survivorship, allowing younger, less tested, perhaps less vigorous males to reproduce,” said Cynthia Moss, director of Amboseli Trust for Elephants.

it is ironic that these "saviors" know so little about the animals they are "saving", not realizing that by the time these super tuskers are harvested, they are past breeding age and have already passed on whatever genetic material that they were going to.

i was a fireman for 20 years and had a saying "people are stupid" that is of course why i had a job, but it appears that education does not protect one from that basic idea.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Let them pound sand

Beaches worth.

 

[wesheltonj]

it is ironic that these "saviors" know so little about the animals they are "saving", not realizing that by the time these super tuskers are harvested, they are past breeding age and have already passed on whatever genetic material that they were going to.

i was a fireman for 20 years and had a saying "people are stupid" that is of course why i had a job, but it appears that education does not protect one from that basic idea.

Except, these super tuskers were not past breeding age.

 

[1dirthawker]

Except, these super tuskers were not past breeding age.

that could be, but i could find no reference to their age in the article.

my statement was intended as a generally accurate one, i suspect there are times when the older bulls do breed.

a simple fix would be for the countries involved to stop hunting that specific population. the people quoted were seemingly concerned about humans involved in the quality of the genetics in the population. well, that seems EXACTLY what the authors are worried about as well.

anyway, i dot wanna see the last big elephant shot, but there should be a way other than banning trophies to help protect certain populations of elephant. ironically, they are over populated in several other countries, maybe they should import some.

 

[mengle]

Trophy hunting: can killing and conservation go hand in hand? - podcast

A series of super tusker elephant killings has sparked a bitter international battle over trophy hunting and its controversial, often counterintuitive role in conservation. Biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston speaks to Amy Dickman, professor of wildlife conservation at the University of Oxford...

www.theguardian.com

New podcast on the topic. Captures the public (mis)understanding on the role of trophy hunting in complex landscapes.