This is a rant and a much needed rant. Unfortunately, I do not believe that anyone reads my blog which is in this instance is tragic. The poaching of elephants has returned to Northern Kenya. The matriarch of the Samburu herd was gunned down for her ivory. I have been photographing this magnificent animal for over a decade. She wore a huge leather collar with a radio transmitter attached to it and she protected her family of over 60 elephants for 15 years. Her tusks were magnificent. Her motherly instincts were superb. Last summer, while leading a safari of over 30 people from Orange County, California we witnessed this female rescue a newborn elephant calf from a river by swimming downstream and literally wrapping her trunk around the baby and lifting the infant on to the shore. It was so wonderful to watch.
The Kenyan government pays lip service to anti-poaching measures but it is all for show. The government is so riddled by corruption that bribery is a way of life. Poachers, when arrested, are often back in the field with their machine guns and machetes 48 hours later. Why? Profits. Ivory is worth more than gold on the black market. Where does the ivory go? Mostly to rich oil barons in the Middle East or millionaire collectors in Asia. The slaughter will continue until the governments of East Africa put conservation and tourism ahead of quick profits from the illegal trade in ivory. Today President Kibaki of Kenya burned a pile of ivory tusks to promote "his concern" for the plight of Kenya's elephant herds. This was done purely for show. The same stunt was carried out by President Daniel Moi in 1989 at the behest of Kenya wildlife director Richard Leaky. It 1989 the stunt garnered worldwide attention and led to the creation of CITES (an international agency with the goal of stopping the trade of illegal wildlife products). But Kibaki's demonstration currently was nothing more than a political ploy. He cares not for Kenya's wildlife. To bad, as I had high hopes for Kibaki when he was first elected. I thought he might be a true reformer with vision. Oh well, and the beat goes on.
Now it is so politically incorrect to say that current East African governments are corrupt but it is true nevertheless. Critics of this rant would call me a racist or worse a "neo-colonial" but in fact I am a patriot. I love Africa. It is disappearing at a rate that makes the saving of Africa's wildlife and ecosystems a losing effort.
Kenya should nationalize the safari industry and all its national parks and game reserves. The Kenyan government should run the safari/tourism industry just like the American government runs our national parks and concessions in this country. With regulation and forbearance, the profits would be enormous for the entire country. Profit sharing could take place with Kenya's 42+ tribes and there would be money left over for the construction of infrastructure which in itself would further increase profits.
Unfortunately none of this will ever happen. East Africa is like the American wild west. Law and order is a myth. Greed is the god the rules everything and everyone.
It is so sad that the elephants, the lions, the cheetahs and etc. are dying defenselessly because they were unlucky enough to be born during the early 21st century. Can you believe that hunting and poaching still exist in 2011?
I go to bed tonight and I wish that I had seen Africa in the early 1900's. This is why I lead safaris today - it is my "hail Mary" attempt to do my part to share the splendor of Africa before it is gone forever.
2 comments:
Africa in the 1900's was full of brutal murder of animals for trophies. There may be fewer animals there today, but they are better protected. It's up to the government and the local populations to realize that ivory viewed on a living animal by people on safari is worth hundreds of times what the ivory is worth on the black market. I cannot argue with you anger over this, it is very sad.
Your response was correct - hunting was brutal in the early 1900s however the number of hunters was small as the costs of an African safari were prohibitive for most (however Teddy Roosevelt spent almost a year in Kenya and killed everything that moved). Kenya outlawed big game hunting in the early 1970s and their population of animals has dropped anyway. My anger is legitimate.
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