In one of the deadliest poaching massacres in decades, the number of elephants killed is believed to be between 200 and 300, although there have been reports as high as 450 in Bouba N’Djida National Park, northeastern Cameroon, Africa. That is more than half of the elephants at the wildlife reserve; all of them missing their tusks.
The elephants are thought to have been killed in the past six weeks by a highly organized and heavily armed gang of poachers that entered Cameroon's Bouba Ndjida National Park from Sudan or Chad. They have moved to Cameroon after wiping out elephant populations in Chad and Central African Republic.
This devastating elephant slaughter has been triggered by growing demand for ivory in China and Thailand, where the tusks are smuggled largely to make ornaments. Under an international treaty to protect elephant populations, most countries have banned ivory sales. But as more and more Chinese middlemen arrive in Africa, illegal trade has only expanded.
Elephants aren't the only animals in Africa brutally hunted for ivory. Last year, poachers in South Africa killed more than 400 rhinos, also to acquire the animals' highly coveted horns.
We ask President Barack Obama to help by placing miliary aid to help stop these wildlife crimes against Africa's endangered elephant.
President Barack Obama
The White House
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Washington, DC 20500
comments (202) 456-1111
switchboard (202) 456-1414
fax (202) 456-2461
e-mail: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
In one of the deadliest poaching massacres in decades, the number of elephants killed is believed to be between 200 and 300, although there have been reports as high as 450 in Bouba N’Djida National Park, northeastern Cameroon, Africa. That is more than half of the elephants at the wildlife reserve; all of them missing their tusks.
The elephants are thought to have been killed in the past six weeks by a highly organized and heavily armed gang of poachers that entered Cameroon's Bouba Ndjida National Park from Sudan or Chad. They have moved to Cameroon after wiping out elephant populations in Chad and Central African Republic.
This devastating elephant slaughter has been triggered by growing demand for ivory in China and Thailand, where the tusks are smuggled largely to make ornaments. Under an international treaty to protect elephant populations, most countries have banned ivory sales. But as more and more Chinese middlemen arrive in Africa, illegal trade has only expanded.
Elephants aren't the only animals in Africa brutally hunted for ivory. Last year, poachers in South Africa killed more than 400 rhinos, also to acquire the animals' highly coveted horns.
We ask President Barack Obama to help by placing miliary aid to help stop these wildlife crimes against Africa's endangered elephant.
