Elephant conservation news 27 February -05 March 2010
The debate centred on a major international wildlife conference being held later this month has intensified, as organising body CITES hit out at "inflammatory comments" against its integrity.
In a statement, Willem Wijnstekers, secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, said that he valued the "engaged and passionate" debate surrounding elephant conservation and ivory trading, but said he would not allow to go unchallenged "unwarranted and unjustified attacks" on the secretariat's objectivity.
The build-up to the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Doha has seen high tensions as the majority of the 23 African Elephant Coalition countries - led by Kenya - have spoken out against proposals by Tanzania and Zambia to relax sanctions on ivory trading. This would allow the two East African neighbour states to reclassify their 110 tonne stockpile, allowing it to be sold.
Wijnstekers struck out at suggestions that the secretariat favoured these proposals, and that CITES had "manipulated the wording" of the current nine-year moratorium on elephant ivory trade in order to change its scope. The secretary-general pointed out that the moratorium was based on a written document, submitted by African states themselves after being drafted "on the sidelines" of the 14th CITES convention.
Members of the Kenyan faction are hoping that the Doha conference will see the moratorium increased to 20 years.
Highlighting the fact that CITES "is a member-driven convention", meaning that "the secretariat plays a supportive role which is entirely objective and impartial", Wijnstekers urged all the participants in the upcoming conference to respect the United Nations' principles.
"I look forward to a rich, open, honest and objective debate in Doha," he added.
Conservation group Born Free previously chastised the UK Government for not coming out strongly enough against the Tanzanian and Zambian proposals, and enjoined the UK to lead EU opposition to them.
Wildlife officer suspected of ivory theft
A wildlife officer in the Philippines is suspected of stealing more than 700 kilograms of ivory that had been seized as part of a massive haul last year, the Associated Press reports.
The unnamed park supervisor potentially faces criminal charges.
Some 4,000kg of tusks were impounded at Manila airport in summer 2009, and subsequently entrusted to the country's Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau.
Director Theresa Mundita Lim said that the disappearance was discovered during an inventory of the cache. Seals on boxes containing the ivory had been broken, and some of the tusks had been substituted with replicas - fabricated from plaster-covered PVC pipes.
Lim also said she understood that inspectors were due to arrive in the country in order to establish through DNA testing whether the tusks originated in Tanzania - which is currently under pressure from other African nations over its proposals to re-open ivory trading conditions. In addition, she admitted that she was not sure whether all of the ivory seized at the airport had been turned over to her organisation, and said an investigation was ongoing.
"This is really embarrassing because we should be among the proactive countries protecting internationally important species," Lim told the Associated Press.
Floods wash elephant research away
A wild elephant research centre in Kenya has apparently been swept away by flash floods after a river burst its banks.
Said to be a centre engaged in pioneering work - including research into using beehive 'fences' to deter elephants from encroaching on farms - the facility in the country's Samburu National Reserve was overrun by the waters of the Ewaso Ng'iro after a downpour.
Although no-one was hurt, the BBC reports that "computers and vital research documentation were submerged in mud and strung up in the treetops".
