The elephant day report in Tanzania to bring awreness among public and fight against elephant poachingby | 26-09-2013 14:56 |
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 The Institute of Resource Assessment (IRA) of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) in collaboration with the Wildlife Division (WD), Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourisms (MNRT) organized the National Elephant Day held at Mlimani City on 22 September 2013. The elephant day is organized in accordance with the Tanzania Elephant Management Plan (2010-2015). The aim of organizing the elephant day is to raise awareness amongst the general public in Tanzania on the need for joining hands in the fight against elephant poaching in the country.Elephants are the largest remaining terrestrial mammal on the planet earth. From time in history, elephants in Africa have been playing an important and pivotal ?keystone? ecological role in savanna and forest ecosystems helping to maintain suitable habitats for a myriad of other species. Socio-economically, an elephant is a species of considerable economic, ecological, cultural and aesthetic value to many people, and arguably, elephants are considered the world?s most charismatic mega-herbivore. Elephant is an important source of revenue through tourism because many people are prepared to pay large sums of money either to watch and photograph them in the wild or hunt them for sport. In many countries (e.g. Tanzania), tourism is among the top most sources of foreign currency and more than 80% of such currencies in the tourism sector are accrued from wildlife-based tourism.Tanzania is home to the second largest population of African elephants on the continent, second only to Botswana However, elephant populations are currently facing the extinction threats due to the on-going elephant poaching for ivory. Something needs to be done to rescue the remaining elephant populations in Tanzania estimated to be around 109,051. It is high time, concerted efforts from different stakeholders are needed to protect the elephants.Let us take action now. Let us join hands and mobilize efforts to motivate people to take action and fight against elephant poaching. Rampant killing of elephants for ivory has already caused local extinction in some countries such as Gambia in 1913, Swaziland in 1920s, Burundi in 1970s and Mauritania in the 1980s. Presently, the estimated number of African elephants is about 0.5 million in the entire African range states. If not jointly protected now, elephant in Tanzania will vanish as it has happened in the other aforemention National Parks in Tanzania. |
