DR Congo civil war kills half it’s elephants in 10 years

A wildlife inventory team came across this elephant poachers' camp in the forest where an ear of elephant was left on a drying rack. (Credit: John Hart)

Civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is having a devastating impact on the country’s elephant population. A study by the University of British Columbia that has just been published demonstrates just how bad the situation is. The study looked at the elephant population in the Okapi Faunal Reserve and found that over the 10 years of the war numbers have dropped by 50%.

Over 3,000 elephants killed in DR Congo civil war.

The study noted that the elephant population of the reserve dropped from 6,439 to 3,288. In other parts of eastern DRC where the unrest is greatest the percentage loss of elephants have been even great. The elephant killings is being driven by the civil war and the large sums of money that can be made from the illegal ivory trade.

“Having protected areas is not enough to save elephants in times of conflict,” says lead author Rene Beyers, a postdoctoral fellow at UBC’s Department of Zoology. “The war in the Democratic Republic of Congo had a large impact on elephant populations, including those in parks and reserves.”

Factors can reduce elephant poaching during conflicts.

The study highlighted that two factors can reduce the impact of poaching in the region that is most affected by the civil war. The first is a well motivated local field conservation and wildlife enforcement officers. The second is the continued presence of international conservation organisations such as UNESCO.

Beyers referred to the parks and nature reserves of Rwanda during it’s time of civil war and unrest. There those parks that had the strongest support from international NGO’s also had the lowest levels of poaching and disruption. Those wildlife parks that had the support with funding and staffing were least impacted by the 1994 genocide.

The report highlighted that international funding of wildlife reserves during times of political unrest and violence is essential as many local agencies will see cutbacks in funding from local sources. There may also be a need for international NGO’s and agencies to review their funding models as the reports points out the many groups operate a developmental aid model for conservation projects. This invariably leads to funding being cut of at times of political instability – which is what occurred in the DRC.

Congo elephants drop from 22,000 to 6,000 due to war.

Estimates of the eastern Congo elephant population before the civil war started was put at approximately 22,000. The current population is put at about 6,000.

DR Congo is a global biological hotspot and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve is a World Heritage Site. The country also contains the largest area of rainforest in the Congo Basin and the second largest continuous rainforest area in the world.

While the civil war is now over there is is still armed groups operating in the eastern parts of DRC. The long term impacts of the civil war still affect the elephant populations as governmental institutions are still under developed and resourced, weapons are still widespread and there is a growing demand for ivory particularly from Asian countries.

The DRC also has a large market for bush-meat which threatens elephants as the infrastructure including agriculture attempts to recover from the war.

External sites:

PLOS One: Resource Wars and conflict Ivory.