THE Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) yesterday said the country was running out of storage space for elephant tusks.

REPORT BY STAFF REPORTER

Zimparks spokesperson Caroline Washaya-Moyo said the authority was currently sitting on 62 374 tonnes of ivory worth $15,6 million resulting in storage space for the ballooning stockpiles running out. The authority’s central stores could only accommodate 65 tonnes of ivory.

She said the situation could be dire by year end as Zimparks collects an average 1, 1 tonnes of ivory monthly.

“Currently the authority is sitting on 62,3 tonnes of ivory valued at approximately $15,6 million and this leaves the authority with less than three tonnes to fill up the remaining space,” she said.

Washaya Moyo said Treasury was also failing to fund wildlife management resulting in several challenges such as inadequate game water supplies and failure to execute quelea control.

On wildlife funding, she said: “It should be made known that while governments the world over fund conservation, the opposite is true for Zimparks. The authority is struggling to fund its statutory obligations, staff costs and law enforcement which is one of the functions of the authority.”

The Zimparks spokesperson said the authority was in dire need of equipment such as patrol and communication kits, uniforms, vehicles, boats, and tracking equipment.

Turning to poaching, Washaya-Moyo said poachers were now using sophisticated equipment such as high-tech night vision equipment, veterinary tranquilisers, silencers and helicopters when carrying out their illegal activities.

Zimbabwe last sold bulk ivory approximated at three tonnes to Chinese and Japanese buyers in 2008, and the elephant population is estimated at 100 000.

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