Combating Poaching and Illegal Logging in Tanzania: Voices of the Rangers-Hands-on Experiences from the Field

Thousands Elephant tusk seizures

4

In Tanzania (whole tusks)

Outside Tanzania (whole tusks or pieces)

3

2

1

0

2012 2013 2014

2015 (Jan-Jun)

2012 2013 2014

Source: Tanzania Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, 2015

Figure 7. Elephant tusk seizures

According to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) Tanzania Survey’s 2015 findings, Tanzania lost 10,000 elephants in 2013 alone, estimated at more than 30 each day. In 2014, an aerial survey of Mara-Serengeti ecosystem discovered 192 elephant carcasses missing tusks, of which 75 were on the Tanzanian side. The population fell from an estimated 109,051 in 2009 to just 43,330 in 2014. The Tanzania rhino population fell from 10,000 in 1970 to 123 in 2014 and is now believed to number 80 rhinos. 86 The findings in the above report were also supported by Environmental Investigation Agency’s November 2014 report on the Tanzanian poaching crisis. 87

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