By Hawa Malishe
Zomba, November 23, Mana: Director of Parks, Bright Kumchedwa Tuesday said cases of ivory trafficking have dropped this year compared to last year.
He said statistics for illegal activities from Parks shows that this year 314.8kgs of ivory was exported compared to last year’s 323.4 kgs a relatively slight decrease of 8.6 percent.
In an interview Kumchedwa said the decline among others, was as a result of strategies put in place by the directorate of parks of which includes recruitment of more staff to guard the parks.
“We are doing a number of activities to ensure cases of ivory trafficking are reduced. Apart from adding more staff, we have improved security in our parks and in all exist and entry points such as airports,” he said.
The Director said the department has raised sniffer dogs that are being used to hunt down culprits.
“We are doing periodic awareness campaigns to encourage Malawians to celebrate and love wildlife and protect important animal spices like elephants,” he said.
Kumchedwa said there has been no record of dead or killed elephant this year this year compared to two last year.
“For someone to be found with ivory, it means an elephant has been killed. However we have had no such cases this year,” the director said.
According to the Convention on International Trade, trafficking of ivory is a serious offence in and outside the country and no one is allowed to sell ivory in Malawi.
Kumchedwa has since hailed the corporative partners that work with the department of parks in fighting ivory trafficking.
