Congressional Staff Briefing: Kenyan Poaching Crisis - An Insider's Perspective скачать в хорошем качестве

Congressional Staff Briefing: Kenyan Poaching Crisis - An Insider's Perspective

May 25, 2012 Speaker: Dr. Julius Kipng'etich Director, Kenya Wildlife Service What Was Covered: • Kenya has the third largest population of elephants in the world, the third largest population of rhinoceros in the world, and approximately one-quarter of the world's lions. For every 10 tourists that visit Kenya, one new job is created. • Last year alone, 278 elephants were killed illegally in Kenya. • Ivory can be sold for as much as $2,000/kilogram on the black market, and rhino horn can fetch as much as $65,000/kilogram. • Poached materials travel through the same channels as human and drug trafficking, and the terrorist organization al-Shabaab has been linked to poaching in Kenya. • The Kenyan government supports a total ban on the sale of ivory and rhino horn, and Kenya has erected 1400 kilometers of electric fences as a first line of defense in human-wildlife conflict. In order to combat illegal poaching, the Kenyan Wildlife Service uses highly skilled, specialized units, including K-9 and horse-mounted units to back up wildlife rangers in intense conflicts. • Kenya has helped to train new enforcement officers from several countries in Africa in an effort to build up the regional capacity to deter and catch poachers.