'Elephants in the Dust' report - UNEP
'Elephants in the Dust' report - UNEP
'Elephants in the Dust' report - UNEP
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
ILLEGAL KILLING OF AFRICAN<br />
ELEPHANTS – TRENDS<br />
AND DRIVERS<br />
The last seven years have seen a clear <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> level of elephant poach<strong>in</strong>g across all<br />
African sub-regions. The year 2011, and probably also 2012 saw an all-time high <strong>in</strong> poach<strong>in</strong>g<br />
s<strong>in</strong>ce systematic monitor<strong>in</strong>g began more than a decade ago. It is estimated that <strong>in</strong> 2011,<br />
approximately 7.4 per cent of <strong>the</strong> total elephant populations <strong>in</strong> elephant sites across Africa<br />
were killed illegally. These sites represent 40 per cent of <strong>the</strong> total African elephant population,<br />
which means that 17,000 elephants were killed <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>se sites alone.<br />
TRENDS IN POACHING<br />
The data compiled by <strong>the</strong> CITES – MIKE Programme (see box<br />
for more <strong>in</strong>formation) is used to measure trends <strong>in</strong> levels of<br />
illegal kill<strong>in</strong>g of elephants and is currently <strong>the</strong> best quantitative<br />
data available on <strong>the</strong> illegal kill<strong>in</strong>g of elephants <strong>in</strong> Africa.<br />
The MIKE Programme bases its analyses on data collected by<br />
conservation area rangers on <strong>the</strong> ground <strong>in</strong> 60 sites spread<br />
across 31 African elephant range States <strong>in</strong> all four sub-regions.<br />
The rangers collect detailed data on all elephant carcasses <strong>the</strong>y<br />
come across, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> cause of death, age and sex of <strong>the</strong><br />
animal, and <strong>the</strong> location and state of <strong>the</strong> carcass. The <strong>in</strong>formation<br />
<strong>report</strong>ed to MIKE is used to calculate <strong>the</strong> Proportion of Illegally<br />
Killed Elephants (PIKE) from that site, which is def<strong>in</strong>ed<br />
as <strong>the</strong> total number of illegally killed elephants found divided<br />
by <strong>the</strong> total number of carcasses encountered per year for each<br />
site. The PIKE value ranges from 0.0 (all carcasses identified as<br />
natural deaths) to 1.0 (all carcasses identified as illegally killed).<br />
A PIKE value of 0.5, for example, would mean that half <strong>the</strong> carcasses<br />
encountered on patrol were identified as illegally killed.<br />
Although <strong>the</strong> projected trends based on <strong>the</strong>se estimates are<br />
only representative of poach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> MIKE sites, <strong>the</strong> total number<br />
of elephants currently estimated to occur at <strong>the</strong>se sites is<br />
more than 230,000, which represents 40 per cent of <strong>the</strong> total<br />
The Monitor<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> Illegal Kill<strong>in</strong>g of<br />
Elephants Programme<br />
The Monitor<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> Illegal Kill<strong>in</strong>g of Elephants (MIKE) Programme,<br />
which was established <strong>in</strong> 1997 follow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> CITES<br />
COP 10 <strong>in</strong> Harare, Zimbabwe, is tasked with collect<strong>in</strong>g and<br />
dissem<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>formation on trends <strong>in</strong> elephant poach<strong>in</strong>g<br />
across African and Asian range states. The objective<br />
of MIKE is to establish a standardized monitor<strong>in</strong>g system<br />
and to measure trends <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> illegal kill<strong>in</strong>g of <strong>the</strong> African<br />
and Asian elephants. The <strong>in</strong>formation collected is used to<br />
<strong>in</strong>form decision-mak<strong>in</strong>g regard<strong>in</strong>g elephants.<br />
MIKE data comes from <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation received from<br />
ground patrols <strong>in</strong> designated MIKE sites, which <strong>in</strong>clude protected<br />
area s and o<strong>the</strong>r elephant range areas. When <strong>the</strong> rangers<br />
come across an elephant carcass, <strong>the</strong>y identify <strong>the</strong> cause<br />
of death as ei<strong>the</strong>r natural or killed by humans by look<strong>in</strong>g for<br />
bullet holes and miss<strong>in</strong>g tusks. They also take note of <strong>the</strong><br />
site’s GPS coord<strong>in</strong>ates and fill <strong>in</strong> standardized carcass forms<br />
that are <strong>the</strong>n submitted to <strong>the</strong> MIKE Programme. Although<br />
<strong>the</strong>re is room for improvements <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> quantity and quality of<br />
data submitted to MIKE, rangers have so far collected data on<br />
more than 9,000 carcasses and <strong>report</strong>ed to MIKE, provid<strong>in</strong>g<br />
a substantial statistical <strong>in</strong>put for fur<strong>the</strong>r analysis.<br />
32