Photos: Wikimedia Commons
NAIROBI — Tanzania plans to issue more hunting permits, prioritizing revenues and herd management over international conservation pressures.
Legal killings of elephants by trophy hunters in northern Tanzania near the Kenyan border have risen over the last year, prompting concerns over a dwindling elephant population and calls for a ban on the hunting of cross-border elephants.
While elephant hunting is permitted in Tanzania, it has been illegal in Kenya since 1973. Elephants which roam freely between the border areas have traditionally been protected by a gentleman’s agreement between the two countries, but conservationists say this has been ignored in the past year.
At least five elephants were legally targeted and killed by trophy hunters in northern Tanzania over the previous eight months, according to various conservation groups.
But in a letter dated Sept. 18, seen by Semafor Africa, senior Tanzanian officials and researchers doubled down on allowing the hunting of elephants in the area. They cited human-wildlife conflicts and the economic benefits derived from hunting.
The Tanzanian letter, addressed to the editor of Science magazine, was responding to a published letter from more than 20 zoologists and conservationists calling for an end to the hunting of elephants in the borderlands and for a harmonized conservation strategy between Kenya and Tanzania.
Science magazine defends itself and says it supports African science and researchers. →
