Correspondents' Correspondence Saving Wildlife

...Correspondents' Correspondence BRIEF TAKEOUTS OF MORE THAN PERSONAL INTEREST FROM LETTERS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED BY THE EDITORS Saving Wildlife Geneva—Ivory and rhino horns are literally worth more than their weight in gold on the brisk, illicit international market Although the poachers themselves reap only a small portion of the profits, the inability of governments to patrol the vast wilderness habitats of elephants and rhinos has made hunting these beasts relatively safe as well as lucrative As a result, the estimated 5 million elephants in Africa five years ago have been reduced to 1 3 million according toastudy published by the New York Zoological Society The world's rhino population, most of it in Africa, has dwindled to 24,000, and the entire species faces extinction Zambia may be the first African country to succeed in reversing the trend An anti-poaching campaign has been inauguiated following an alarming report issued by the International Union tor the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Woi Id's Wildlife Fund (WWF) "At least 10 gangs ot poach-cis, with up to 26 mercenanes pei gang, have descended on the Luangwa Valley, armed with AK-27 automatic nfles and other sophisticated equipment ' the report warned "They have the firepower to kill up to 600 elephants and 240 black rhinos every month This would mean the annihilation of the black rhino if we do not hit back " Aided by a $3 million WWF grant, Zambia has responded by doubling its complement of wildlife guards and deploying mobile police reinforcements, including aircraft, land vehicles and other support equipment The IUCN and WWF have also recently earmarked $600,000 for a wider ranging conservation package in East Africa About half the money will go to the Sudan for a new 800 square kilometer protected area for the white rhino Second pnontv has been accorded to Uganda, where "during the eight-year rule of Idi Amin and the anarchy following the \\ ar ot Liberation the country's wildlife resources were devastated,' according to a spokesman for the IUCN /WWF A $30,000 grant has been set aside to suppoi t an ad\ isor to the Ugandan authorities seeking to rehabilitate local conservation areas The rest ot the mone\ will go to Tanzania, kem a and Madagascar tor training in wildlilc conservation and equipment Tanzania is particularly worried about the highly organized poaching operations that have reduced black rhino populations to about 1,000 in the Ruaha National Park and to less than 100 in the Serengeti Ivory poachers are taking a heavy toll in northern Tanzania, too Even more disturbing, and targeted for eradication, is the spread of big-game poaching to the Selous and Rungwa game preserves in the south, which share the continent's finest remaining populations of both species Capturing the killers is only one part of the current African conservation campaign Efforts have been launched—backed by specialized UN agencies—to frustrate the urban middlemen who traffic m tusks and horns The illegal market, for example, was the focus of a conference held in New Delhi earlier this month by theConvention on International Trade in Endangered Species The Central African Republic (still a big exporter) and China and Japan (both large importers) have just recently joined the Convention But many Arab countries have refused to subscribe to its provisions because daggers with handles of carved rhino horn, known as jambias, are popular as symbols of male potency The Arab market is a special threat to theendangered species, since oil wealth enables young men to pay huge sums for the prized horns Another big barrier to effective trade controls has been the absence of a universal marking system to keep track of illegal traffic The IUCN and W WF have financed the development of such a scheme on a pilot basis and demonstrated it to the 67 signatory countries ot the Convention in New Delhi It would involve marking all tusks with indelible dve and using torgerv-proot banknote paper tor export licences Ivorv producing countries stand to benefit eonsiderabh tram a recognized identification method that would make poaching riskier and less profitable More impoitant, an internatioiiallv accepted svstcm ot this kind ma\ be the onlv wav to slop the plundet ot one ot \lilea's most valuable natuial resources —Tnovi vs L-vsn...