That represents 4,000 killed elephants, an indication of how brutally
effective the new poachers are. A DNA analysis revealed that the ivory in the
Cameroon shipment all came from elephants in eastern Gabon and the neighboring
Congo, which suggests that contractors "receive a 'purchase order' for a
specific quantity of ivory," says Clark. They organize teams of poachers to kill
a set number of elephants in a specific area, then arrange for transport to the
coast.
The consequences for wildlife have been devastating. The highly endangered
northern white rhino was making a comeback in Garamba National Park, on the
border of Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. A population of 13 in 1983
had rebounded to 32 by 2003. But late that year Janjaweed militias armed with
AK-47s began arriving, and the slaughter began. In a typical raid, says
conservation biologist Emmanuel
de Merode, who has worked in East Africa for two decades, some 20
horse-mounted militiamen do the killing, while scores of others camp on the edge
of the park with large caravans of donkeys providing supplies for the days-long
journey from Sudan and back. The poachers remove the rhino horns, which are
prized as dagger handles in the Middle East and for purported medical properties
in Asia. As of last year, there were two rhinos left in Garamba, a death
sentence for that population. "There may have been some local poaching, too,"
says de Merode, "but it was the Janjaweed that killed them off." In another case
of militias' financing atrocities through poaching, armed men believed to be
members of the FDLR, Hutu extremists tied to the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda,
abducted and killed two baby gorillas from Congo. Although some black-market
buyers prefer the primates alive, stuffed ones can bring enough for a nice haul
of assault rifles.
The State Department and some members of Congress suspect a link between
illegal wildlife trafficking and terrorism, but admit that "the evidence is
anecdotal," says Claudia
McMurray, assistant secretary of State. "But with the amount of money it
would provide terrorist groups, even anecdotes are a huge cause for concern."
One focus: domestic separatist groups and Islamic militants based in Bangladesh.
Indian wildlife officials suspect them of sponsoring the poaching of tigers,
rhinos, elephants and other vanishing breeds in India's Kaziranga
National Park to support terrorist activities, police sources in India tell
NEWSWEEK. One group is suspected of carrying out a string of bombings in India
beginning in 2004.
Just as the ultimate blame for drug lords who murder the innocent lies with
users, so the blame for a wildlife trade that sustains organized crime and
genocidal militias lies with the buyers. "There is a vague awareness in America
that some things, they shouldn't be buying," says McMurray. "But the psychology
seems to be that if it's in a store [or online] it must be OK." Americans who
buy ivory carvings (easily available online), Japanese who collect the ivory
signature seals called hankos and Chinese who clamor for "medicines"
made from tiger bone are not supporting some lone poacher who's trying to feed
his family. They're putting money into the coffers of the Janjaweed, warlords
and possibly even worse actors. With the new wildlife traffickers, it's not only
animals whose lives are at stake.
