Cameroon urged to save its elephants
Yaoundé, Cameroon, 30th May 2013—The elephants of Central Africa are about to disappear. A recent study shows that forest elephant populations have fallen by almost two-thirds - or 62 percent - over the past decade, as a result of widespread poaching for their ivory. In the forested areas of southeastern Cameroon, this represents several thousand forest elephants since 2002.
Poaching has a devastating impact on the ecology and economy of countries and even threatens national security. As Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General noted yesterday "poaching and its potential links with other criminal activities poses a serious threat to peace and security in Central Africa. "
"I call on the governments of the sub-region to consider poaching as an activity with regional and sub-regional implications for security, which require concerted and co-ordinated action."
