• Listen to this segment

A New York Times investigation earlier this week explored a recent spike in elephant massacres in a number of African countries. The elephants’ ivory tusks are sought by rebel militia forces and national armies alike to procure large shipments of weapons and fuel on-going bloody conflicts.

The predominant demand for the ivory comes from Chinese markets. The Times writes that “as much as 70 percent [of African ivory] is flowing to China, and though the Chinese have coveted ivory for centuries, never before have so many of them been able to afford it.” On average, the tusks of a single elephant can sell for up to $20,000 in China. Tom Milliken, director of the Elephant Trade Information System classified the poaching and smuggling operations as, “African based, Asian-run crime syndicates.” Chinese officials from the Forestry Ministry declined to discuss the issue saying, “This is a very sensitive topic.”

According to reporter Jeffrey Gettleman, “like blood diamonds…ivory…is the latest conflict resource in Africa.” Gettleman adds, “Last year, poaching levels in Africa were at their highest since international monitors began keeping detailed records in 2002.” The groups involved in the poaching include “some of Africa’s most notorious armed groups” like the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Somalia’s Al Shabaab and Darfur’s Janjaweed rebels. Even some African national armies, such as those of Uganda, Congo, and South Sudan, who benefit from US training and financial support, are involved.

Among the forces on the front lines of curbing elephant slaughter are rangers, like the 140-strong outfit in the Congo’s Garamba National Park. Chief Ranger Paul Onyago told the New York Times how he has witnessed the poachers’ increased access to military weaponry firsthand. Eleven of his men have perished in the past four years in the course of their work.

GUESTS: Jeffrey Gettleman, East Africa Bureau Chief for the New York Times and this year won a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, joining us live from Nairobi, and Kambale Musavuli, Congolese activist, student coordinator and spokesperson of Friends of the Congo

Visit www.congojustice.org for more information about Friends of the Congo.

Click here to read Jeffrey Gettleman’s article in the New York Times.