But Duncan Juma, communications director of Kenya's wildlife service, ruled out human-wildlife conflict in the death of the elephants, saying 'the community loves these animals.'
Really? Even the ones who risk being trampled by them when they go to harvest what crops the marauding herds have left to them? Of course, Juma lives and works in air-conditioned comfort in a city, so he would say that, wouldn’t he?
The International Fund for Animal Welfare, or IFAW, said the recent suspected cyanide poisoning highlights the urgent need to tackle the underlying causes of human-wildlife conflict. 'As people and elephants increasingly share space, protecting wildlife and safeguarding communities' livelihoods must go hand in hand,' IFAW wrote in a statement.
They are incompatible. The elephant has no value to the rural African, if he cannot benefit from the trophy fees or the meat from a licensed hunt.
Last season alone, Muchai said elephants destroyed about half an acre of his tomato crop, costing him an estimated 500,000 Kenya shillings (£2,867). 'We have lived with these animals for years. They eat our crops, and many of us have never received compensation,' he said.
Surprising? Not at all.
Another farmer, Rymondy Mrosso, also questioned whether pesticides used by local farmers could explain the deaths and wondered why only elephants appeared to have been affected.
They have to eat a huge quantity of food per day. That would account for it.
1 comment:
Question: What useful purpose do elephants serve in the 21st century? None that I can imagine, other than as an entertainment novelty for some.
Same goes for white rhinos, polar bears, lesser-spotted bonking newts and the rest of the long list of so-called endangered species'.
It is reckoned that 99.9% of all creatures which existed on earth are now extinct, that's what evolution is all about, creatures cease to fit into the evolving environment, so they vanish.
Rather like pretending that governments can in any way affect the climate of the planet, making attempts to avoid the natural extinction of unnecessary creatures is a futile and wasteful quest.
Photograph them for posterity, document them by all means, then let them fulfil their natural destiny as they exit stage left in a timely manner. R.I.P. Dumbo.
Post a Comment