Tanzania’s conservationists have requested that the sport hunting of elephants be prohibited

On Monday, conservationists submitted a petition to Tanzania, urging the government to prohibit elephant trophy hunting in an extensive wildlife reserve that borders Kenya.

The wildlife conservation range known as Amboseli National Park in Kenya and the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area in Tanzania are home to approximately 2,000 elephants, including the “super-tuskers,” who are so named due to their sizable tusks.

Tanzania permits the recreational hunting of elephants for prized tusks, in contrast to Kenya, where trophy hunting is prohibited. This has led to instances in which hunters have killed Kenyan elephants from beyond the boundary.

Cynthia Moss, the founder of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, stated that the loss of these elephants is not only a setback to elephant populations but also to our collective conservation efforts.

500,000 signatures were also collected in support of the petition, which was signed by over 50 wildlife conservation organizations in Africa.

Conservationists contend that the Amboseli ecosystem, which boasts the maximum density of these animals, is home to only 10 super-tuskers, each of which weighs approximately 45 kg.

The petition states that the super-tuskers may vanish within the next three years as a result of hunting.

In 1995, Tanzania and its East African neighbors reached an agreement to cease issuing hunting permits on its side of the reserve following the slaughter of Kenyan elephants by hunters on the Tanzanian side.

Nevertheless, the petition stated that Tanzania resumed the issuance of permits in 2022.