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Pachyderm Newsletter of the African Elephant and Rhino Specialist Group

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Pachyderm Newsletter of the African Elephant and Rhino Specialist Group PACHYDERM NEWSLETTER OF THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND RHINO SPECIALIST GROUP NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 1984 INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE WCI AND NATURAL RESOURCES Wildlife Conservation International SPECIES SURVIVAL COMMISSION PRODUCED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF WCI, THE CONSERVATION DIVISION OF THE NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY Dr. lain Douglas.Hamilton Membership List P.O. Box 54667 NAIROBI, Kenya Major Ian Grimwood CHAIRMAN P.O. Box 45079 NAI ROBI Dr. David Western Kenya Wildlife Conservation International P.O. Box 48177 Dr. Anthony Hall-Martin NAIROBI Senior Research Officer Kenya Kruger National Park Private Bag X402 EXECUTIVE OFFICER SKUKUZA 1350 Lucy Vigne South Africa Wildlife Conservation International (Regional Representative, Southern Africa) P.O. Box 48177 Dr. A.K.K. HilIman NAIROBI, Kenya c/o AWF MEMBERS P.O. Box 48177 NAIROBI, Kenya D.K. Andere KREMU Mr. G. Kaweche P.O. Box 47146 Chief Wildlife Research Officer NAIROBI, Kenya P.O. Box 1 CHILANGA Dr. E. Bekele Zambia Wildlife Conservation Organisation Forestry & Wildlife Conservation Development Authority Dr. Dale Lewis P.O. Box 386 P.O. Box 18 ADD IS ABABA MFUWE Ethiopia Zambia Dr. R.H.V. Bell Hanne Lindemann Senior Research Officer Gronholtvej 35B Department of National Parks and Wildlife 3480 FREDENSBORG Kasungu National Park Denmark P.O. Box 43 F. Lwezaula KASUNGU Director Malawi Wildlife Division (Vice Chairman) Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism P.S.M. Berry P.O. Box 1994 Save The Rhino Trust DA R.ES-SALAAM P.O. Box 33 Tanzania MFUWE Dr. Robert Malpas Zambia WWF/IUCN Dr. Markus Borner c/o AWF Frankfurt Zoological Society P.O. Box 48177 P.O. Box 154 NAIROBI, Kenya MWANZA Henry C. Minga Tanzania Acting Director of Wildlife Forces Dr. Esmond Bradley Martin Directorate of Wildlife P.O. Box 15510 Regional Ministry of Regional Affairs and Administration NAIROBI, Kenya Equatorial Region of Juba (Vice Chairman) South Sudan Dr. P.M. Brooks Cynthia Moss Chief Research Officer African Wildlife Foundation Natal Parks, Game and Fish Preservation Board P.O. Box 48177 P.O. Box 662 NAIROBI PIETERMARITZBURG 3200 Kenya South Africa Dr. J. Ngog.Nje J. Bushara Director Chief Game Warden Ecole pour Ia Formation des Specialistes de la Faune Game Department Boite Postale 271 P.O. Box 4 GAROUA ENTEBB E Cameroun Uganda (Regional Representative, Central West Africa) Dr. D.H.M.Cumming Dr. Norman Owen-Smith Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management Centre for Resource Ecology P.O. Box 8365 University of the Witwatersrand HARARE JOHANNESBURG 2001 Zimbabwe South Africa (Regional Representative, South-Central Africa) Dr. C.A.Spinage Project UP V/78/006 c/o UNDP COVER:Doomed elephants south of Murchison Falls, OUAGADOUGOU Uganda in 1976. [I. Douglas-Hamilton] Upper Volta 2 Chairman’s Report from around 13,000 in 1980 to less than 9,000 in 1984. Trade figures produced by Bradley Martin’s 1983 Asian surveys show North Yemen, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea to be acquir¹ ing most of that horn. Northern white rhinos have de- A LOOK AT ELEPHANT AND RHINO CONSERVATION clined from around 700 to less than 30 over the same time, PROBLEMS AND PROGRESS and the last remnants, a confirmed 13, survive in Garamba National Park in Zaire. Only the status of southern white rhi- The IUCN specialist groups are reviewed at each General nos, which have increased from around 3,000 to 4,000 in re- Assembly every three years, and although AERSG was con- cent years, give any reason for optimism. vened a year after the 1981 assembly in New Zealand, giving There can no longer be any reasonable doubt that us only a two-year stint I felt obliged to hand on the position at commer¹ cial hunting is making heavy inroads into elephant the November General Assembly in Madrid, rather than stand populations, just as it has indisputably exterminated rhinos over in for a further three years. I took on the chairmanship specifi- most of Africa. Douglas-Hamilton has stated the case cally to see AERSG underway, and now that it is, I must return clearly(Newsletter 2), and the close correspondence in the dis- to my own conservation interests, which have stood back- appearance of both elephants and rhinos (Western and Vigne, burner in the meantime, but I hope still to actively support this volume), points to a common commercial trade. AERSG. We have complemented field and trade studies with el- This is a convenient point to review what AERSG has done ephant population models designed to test the consequences in the two years, and to suggest what lies ahead. of various hunting methods, offtake levels, and trade regula- Where it is easy to say what should be done, it is hard to tions (Pilgram and Western, this volume). The models are al- claim real progress when by definition conservation is hold- ready helping us to explain existing trade patterns and suggest ing the animal realm constant against the steady stream of methods for improving the commercial harvest without wip- universal change. The only real solution is to monitor regu- ing out the elephant population. One far reaching conclusion larly the number and distribution of elephants and rhinos, the shows that present hunting methods are unsound economi- trade in their products, and to assess the patterns and causes cally and that alternative methods could more than double the of change. This we have managed to do. Esmond Bradley profitability to African governments and traders alike, while Martin’s rhino horn trade studies have been summarized in simultaneously improving the status of elephants. previous News¹ letters and the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Unit, As a result of the field, trade and computer modelling stud- which we com¹ missioned to do a detailed ivory update in ies we are now far better placed to pin-point the problem ar- 1982, has continued to produce regular reports. So, based on eas, to suggest practical remedies, to coordinate conservation the field and trade studies, where do we stand? If the animal activities and to monitor progress. But, though now better world is viewed restrictively as the protected areas, then, though placed to plan and coordinate conservation in future, we also regretable, it is understandable that elephants and rhinos are undertook to promote action on the recommendations of the fast losing ground elsewhere in Africa. What is more worrying 1982 Wankie meeting of the joint elephant and rhino special- is that our largest land mammals are also disappearing within ist groups, chaired then by lain Douglas-Hamilton and Kes their allo¹ cated realm: the 1 .2 million square kilometres of Hillman. Africa enclosed within some 360 conservation areas. These How successful have we been? We were in a position to are the conclusions of the 1983-84 surveys summarized in act on some 32 of 36 proposals. We got underway on each by this Newsletter. writing letters to all relevant African heads of state and Douglas-Hamilton, taking only those regions, mostly sanc- govern¹ ment wildlife agencies signed by the Director Gen- tuaries, with repeated counts over a number of years, shows eral IUCN, drawing the attention to the Wankie action plan. most of Africa to have lost large numbers of elephants in re- We also enclosed the publication “Elephants and Rhinos in cent years ¹ far more than human increase alone can explain. Africa: A Time for Decision”, and outlined the priorities rel- Given the better protection of sanctuaries and the resulting evant to each country. The government follow-up has been immigration of elephants from more vulnerable areas, the trend mixed, but good in some important cases. Most improvements outside will be exaggerated. The field evidence is supported since 1982 are directly due to government action, rather than by the population modeling of Pilgram and Western (this News- to international conservation agencies, though they have played letter). They suggest the sharp downturn in the weight of tusks a strong supporting role. This is as it should be. entering the world market since the late 70s indicates heavy On specifics, we were most concerned about the contin- overhunting. If we reckon that the number of elephants con- ued rhino horn trade and asked various agencies to intervene tributing to the annual 800 or so tonnes has increased from to stop traffic into the remaining free-trade countries: North some 45,000 to 70,000 over the last eight years when mean Yemen, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea in particular. Afri- tusk weights have declined from around 9 kg to 6 kg, we can can Wildlife Foundation successfully got North Yemen to ban compute that there could not have been many more than a imports, but the trade continues unabated. At our request, million elephants in Africa when the tusk-weight decline be- WWF/UK lobbied Singapore, and CITES has recently informed gan. That is close to the 1.3 million esti¹ mated by Douglas- me that this country has banned horn imports and will soon Hamilton in the late 70s and 1,19 given by the Wankie Work- sign CITES. We have had no success yet with Taiwan and South shop in 1982. When we add ivory used within Africa (pres- Korea, despite diplomatic initiatives. Hong Kong, which can ently being surveyed by Bradley Martin), last year’s ivory ex- legally re-export its stock of old horn has shipped all but 289 port may have reached 1,000 tonnes, representing 90,000 or kg of 3,000 kg and is no longer a glaring loophole. There has, more dead elephants, almost twice the 5% annual offtake that according to Bradley Martin, been a slow-up in the Far East the million or fewer elephant can sustain, and sufficient to trade, so signs are encouraging, but still inadequate.
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