Massive elephant slaughter – cartoons may help

Killing Spree Slaughters 86 Elephants in Chad but new art project could help spread awareness 

The elephants were killed close to the Chad border with Cameroon and their ivory hacked out. It is the worst killing spree of elephants since early 2012 when poachers from Chad and Sudan killed as many as many as 650 elephants in a matter of weeks in Cameroon’s Bouba Ndjida National Park.

"This is completely shocking," said Celine Sissler-Bienvenu, Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare in France and Francophone Africa (IFAW – www.ifaw.org).

"Elephants in Central Africa continue to be under siege from unscrupulous poachers. The killing of 86 elephants, including pregnant cows, is evidence of the callous brutality demanded to feed the appetite of the ivory trade," said Sissler-Bienvenu.

But help in spreading understanding and information may be at hand.

SEE VIDEO HERE

A pioneering effort where three Southern African, one Sri Lankan wildlife conservation organization is partnering with an American artist to develop an illustrated guide to mitigate human-elephant conflicts.

Says The Trans Africa-Asia Human Elephant Conflict Education & Resolution Project: "From time immemorial people have been fascinated and been in awe of elephants.  In Asia this fascination had led to the development of one of the most unique relationships that had ever evolved between a wild animal and a human. In Africa most unfortunately the fascination for the elephant is mostly to do with its ivory rather than for its’ enigmatic and wondrous nature. Today irrespective what their relationships with people had been historically, both species of elephants are in critical trouble. "

"While the ivory crisis is the more conspicuous issue today and poaching is seen as having the more devastating impact on elephants, human-elephant conflict is a more covert but nonetheless equally lethal process that decimates elephants over the long term."

"What is unfortunate is that elephants that escape annihilation by poachers are killed without compunction and even considered a legal killing under game control laws for crop raiding.  In Asia while human-elephant conflict contributes the most to elephant mortality poaching still occurs and is escalating fast influenced by events happening in Africa and due to the increasing demand for ivory in the global markets.  Basically elephants are been mowed down from both ends and at this rate of killing both species will not survive to see the dawn of another century.   One of the biggest challenges facing the efforts to mitigate human elephant conflict for the long term conservation of elephants is the lack of an effective educational tool to create awareness in the people most impacted by it. "

The Trans Africa-Asia Human Elephant Conflict Education & Resolution Project will be a pioneering effort—in fact the first time in the world where an artist will partner with African and Asian elephant conservationists to produce the first ever illustrated human elephant conflict education guide.  

More information: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/80773904/trans-africa-asia-human-elephant-conflict-educatio-0

Valere Tjolle

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