KINSHASA (AFP) — Rebels and villagers have killed 14 elephants in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the past two weeks, a wildlife group said Thursday.
Since April 14, Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda killed four; Congolese FARDC and Maimai rebels killed eight and local villagers killed two elephants in Virunga National Park, the Nairobi-based WildlifeDirect said in a statement.
"This is the worst month we have seen in a long time in terms of recorded elephant deaths," said Alexandre Wathaut, the provincial director for the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN).
"ICCN is making official representations to the Congolese military and to the militia for this slaughter to stop. We call on the international community to engage in solving the region's political problems, for the sake of the local population as well as for Virunga's unique wildlife."
Wildlife Direct chief Emmanuel de Merode said relaxing of global ivory trading rules and arrival of Chinese merchants in the lawless Great Lakes region has worsened poaching.
"The upsurge in elephant killings in Virunga is part of a widespread slaughter across the Congo Basin, and is being driven by developments on the international scene: the liberalisation of the ivory trade, being pushed by South Africa, and the increased presence of Chinese operators on the ground, who feed a massive domestic demand for ivory in their home country," he added.
Elephant populations in Virunga National Park have fallen from 3,500 in 1959 to about 350 in 1996.
"The death of 14 elephants therefore has a considerable impact on the viability of the local elephant population."
The killings were announced on Thursday as South Africa lifted a 13-year moratorium on elephant culling, raising concern of a return to the international trade in ivory seen in the 1970s and 1980s, the group said.
The South African government earlier this year authorised the killing of elephants from May 1 as a last resort in limiting the numbers of the African elephant that have more than doubled since culling was halted in 1995.
Apart from elephants, rare mountain gorillas were killed last year in Virunga, one of Africa's largest parks, where local and foreign militias as well as Congolese soldiers, poachers and illegal miners regularly cross.
There are 1,100 rangers protecting five national parks -- four of which are classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites -- in eastern DRC. Some 150 rangers have been killed while on duty in the past decade.
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