Sudan's War Threatens Zaire Wildlife with Extinction

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

2/14/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE

Reuters reports in the following copyrighted article on the surge

in poaching of Zairian wildlife as the Sudanese war has escalated.

The giraffe and rhinoceros populations are moving towards local

extirpation in the 1,900 square mile Garamba National Park which

is classified as a U.N. World Heritage site. Buffalo and elephant

populations have also been much reduced through poaching. Can

there be any doubt that if events continue, the great megafauna of

Africa will follow the path of the giant tree sloth and others

large mammals? What commitment is the world going to make to not

allow whole species complexes to disappear? What if a fraction of

the world's defense expenditures was earmarked for ecological

stabilization and restoration of biodiversity and native habitats

everywhere? This photocopy is for non-commercial, informational

use by all my forest campaign friends :)

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Subject: Sudan's war threatens Zaire wildlife with extinction

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 7:50:41 PST

NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuter) - Poaching by southern Sudanese rebels and

refugees in a Zaire wildlife reserve threatens rare rhinoceros and

giraffe species with extinction, conservationists said Wednesday.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said poaching by rebels in

Zaire's Garamba National Park meant the low population of 31

Northern White rhinoceros and 230 Savannah giraffes faced

extinction.

The 1,900 square mile Garamba National Park is classified as a

U.N. World Heritage site and is home to the last known members of

the two species. Some 80,000 Sudan refugees live to the west and

east.

WWF said over 500 weapons had been recovered in the last two years

and many more firearms remained in the area while wild animal meat

from the reserve and park was available in markets.

"The greatest threat is from across the border, where rebel armies

need food. Men, armed with automatic weapons, hand grenades and

equipment ... are systematically poaching," a WWF statement said.

"Sudanese identity cards and Sudanese money recovered from

poachers are further proof of the poachers' origin."

WWF said 45 elephants were found killed in the park in 1995 and

ivory from 20 others had just been recovered in 1996 from poachers

of both Zairean and Sudanese origin.

The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) has fought Sudan's

government forces since 1983. The SPLA wants to end what it says

is the domination of the mainly animist and Christian south by the

Arabized and Moslem north.

Rifts within the SPLA have caused fighting between rebel factions

and added to the problem of millions of refugees.

WWF said that buffalo, whose numbers have dropped to 25,000 in

1995 from 53,000 in 1976, were the main prey.

Jean-Pierre d'Huart, regional representative of the WWF East

African regional Programme Office, said it was time for the

international community to look closely at the impact of the civil

war in Sudan on the area's ecosystem.

"If not, by the time the refugees return to their homeland, Zaire

will have lost one of the jewels of its natural heritage," d'Huart

said. "Major help is needed."

WWF said conservation aid for Zaire was limited and a national

economic crisis in the country continued to force down the

standard of living of people around the park.

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