There were 2.2 tonnes of elephant tusks in
all, in 835 separate pieces. The ivory had been hiden among sacks of beans,
according to a Vietnamese customs official.
The container carrying the ivory originated
in Mozambique, and the ship docked at Hai Phong port in late November. The
ivory was supposed to be delivered to a local company – but the company has
denied any connection with the ivory.
Vietnam outlawed the trade in ivory in
1992, but the ban has an enormous loophole in that ivory from elephants killed
before the ban can still be sold. There is also a thriving Vietnamese black
market in ivory. According to a report carried by the French AFP news agency,
ivory can sell for 2,100 US dollars a kilo – which would make last Friday’s
haul worth over 4.6 million dollars.
Recent years have seen a severe decline in
the number of elephants in Mozambique. The latest elephant census, undertaken
in 2014, showed a 48 per cent drop in the elephant population since 2009 – from
just over 20,000 to around 10,300.
Ninety-five percent of the total loss
occurred in northern Mozambique where the elephant population declined from an
estimated 15,400 to an estimated 6,100. The Niassa National Reserve was hardest
hit. Here the number of elephants fell from around 12,000 to an estimated
4,440. Organised criminal gangs are slaughtering elephant sin Niassa, and in
the Selous Reserve, across the border in Tanzania.
0 comments:
Post a Comment