US taken to task over Zimbabwe ivory ban

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service was last week taken to task over its suspension of Zimbabwean ivory at the 13th meeting of the African Wildlife Consultative Forum (AWCR) held in Kenya.

USFWS announced a suspension on imports of sport hunted African elephant trophies taken in Tanzania and Zimbabwe for the 2014 calendar year.

The Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe chairman Emanuel Fundira said that other regional expressed concern over the way the ban was instituted.

Other countries like Kenya were worried by the fact that the ban was instituted based on anecdotal data rather than specific data.

He said this is because the 100 elephant that were poisoned may be miniscule in a country where the elephants population is around 50 000.