Conservationists Ask Tanzania Authorities to Ban Elephant Hunting for Sport

JAKARTA - Conservationists petitioned Tanzanian authorities on Monday to end trophy elephant hunting in a vast wildlife reserve that straddles the shared border with Kenya.

About 2,000 elephants, including "super tuskers" so-called because of their large tusks, roam the wildlife conservation areas known as Amboseli National Park on the Kenyan side and Enduimet Wildlife Management Area on the Tanzanian side.

Unlike Kenya, where trophy hunting is illegal, Tanzania allows trophy elephant hunting for valuable ivory and issues permits for the activity. That has led to several cases of poachers killing Kenyan elephants from across the border.

"The loss of these elephants is not only a blow to the elephant population but also to our collective efforts in conservation," Cynthia Moss, founder of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, told Reuters on August 12.

The petition, filed by more than 50 African wildlife conservation organizations, also has 500,000 signatures.

Only 10 super-tusked elephants weighing around 45 kg each remain in the Amboseli ecosystem, which has the highest density of the animals, according to conservationists.

"Hunting could cause the super-tusked elephant to become extinct in the next three years," the petition said.

Previously, the two East African neighbors agreed in 1995 that Tanzania would stop issuing hunting permits in its territory, after poachers killed Kenyan elephants in Tanzanian territory.

However, in 2022 Tanzania began issuing permits again, the petition said.