Can courts help to stop poachers?

Dar es Salaam. On Friday, a Dar es Salaam court made a landmark ruling – condemning two Chinese poachers to 30 years in jail after they were found guilty of illegally possessing 706 elephant tusks. It is one of the heaviest sentences in recent times aimed at curbing the multi-billion dollar illegal trade. 

But are the many arrests and convictions, the seizures and, at times, burning of the ivory hauls, a sign of success or yet another sad reminder that the elusive victory in the poaching crisis appears near yet still so far?    

Thirty-one-year old Xu Fujie and Huang Gin, 51, had the option to pay Sh54.3 billion ($24.6 million) each if they wanted to avoid the lengthy jail term – whether or not they will afford it posterity will tell.

But it is a thriving trade that generates profits in billions of dollars for well-connected criminal syndicates and organisations – surprises are not uncommon. The only problem with the world of dark dealings is that once you are caught you are your own man. 

The real ghosts behind the thriving ivory business will not want to risk bailing them out for obvious reasons – though the clandestine nature of ivory smuggling makes it difficult to fully map out, where there is genuine political will, money trails in this age are not too difficult to track.  

Apparently, there is growing impatience and frustration  - from government corridors to conservationists – over the sheer recklessness and wantonness of poachers as shocking details continue to emerge of the trail of animal and human blood the illegal trade leaves.

Reckless because the poachers are doing it in broad daylight – sealing their dark deals under the nose of law enforcement agents, right in the city centre. In the heart of one of Dar es Salaam’s sprawling suburbs, the convicted Chinese Fujie and Gin collected their ivory loot from their accomplices, who brought it from Mtwara, Lindi and Ruvuma regions.

It was that recklessness that sold them off after members of the public became suspicious of vehicles coming in and out of a yard at Biafra, in Kinondoni, one of the criminal hotspots of the city.  

Wanton not only because slaughter in itself is horrifying; but also because ivory dealers employ and arm poachers, who in turn target entire herds of elephants, shooting them with automatic weapons and plucking off their tusks, sometimes with axes and chainsaws. 

More so, it is cruelty at its worst considering the shocking fact that the 706 tusks the two Chinese were caught with means at least 226 elephants had to be slaughtered for the ‘white gold’ to be shipped to showrooms and private collections in China.

This is a appalling quarter of the total number of elephants killed in the country between 2010 and 2013. Officially, that number is 892 – it could be much more than that.  

Reports say in 2011 more than 150 Chinese citizens were arrested across the continent for smuggling ivory. And reports suggest growing evidence that poaching increases in elephant-rich areas where Chinese construction workers are also building roads.

And his ruling on Friday, magistrate-in-charge at the Kisutu Magistrate’s Court, Cyprian Mkeha, described the latest Chinese ivory haul as “a huge loss the nation has suffered”. 

Real threat

“It is obvious the accused are a real threat to the elephant generation within the boundaries of our country,” he said as he delivered the judgment.   

If anything, it has been a dramatic month for the country’s courts, now seen as crucial to the anti-poaching drive. 

A day before the two Chinese were nailed, a Manyara court sentenced three poachers for 20 years. They were caught with leopard and python skin worth Sh6.3 million and Sh648,000, respectively.

A week before, Rebecca Julius was sentenced to 25 years in jail by a Serengeti court. She was arrested with four pieces of elephant tusks. And a day before her sentencing, on March 7, a Kibaha court jailed eight poachers for 20 years each. Two of the convicts were policemen. 

They were caught with elephant tusks worth Sh850.5 million. They were also fined Sh64 billion in total.

Tanzania also last year charged the ‘Queen of Ivory’, the Chinese woman, Yang Feng Clan, 66, who is accused of heading the criminal network responsible for smuggling the 706 pieces of ivory worth Sh5.44 billion ($2.51 million) between 2000 and 2014. Prosecutors say Yang organised, managed and financed a criminal racket in ivory totalling 1.9 tonnes

Outrage and heavy punishments

In the arrests, and sentences, progress seems to have been made. Yet there appears to be little hope the poachers will slow down. Despite the outrage and heavy punishments, the hunt for illegal ivory in the country appears to be at an all-time high.

Just less than a year ago, the European Union banned the importation of ivory from Tanzania and Mozambique citing the soaring levels of poaching that has seen a significant decline in elephant numbers.

At the same time, poachers are making loud statements: they are not just about to stop. 

According to the Game Rangers Association of Africa, about 1,000 rangers have been killed over the last 10 years trying to protect wildlife. The association says rangers still have the dangerous task of arresting or seeing off the gangs who are often heavily armed and funded by organised crime syndicates.

Tracking the criminals recently, a British helicopter pilot, Roger Gower, was shot dead in the Maswa Game Reserve, near the Serengeti National Park.

His killing by a gang of poachers put the country in the spotlight again as the international community rallies in a fresh drive to curb rampant poaching in East Africa.

Significantly, this comes two months before the Elephant Protection Initiative summit to be held on April 29 and 30 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Top international conservationists, music superstars and media make the A-List of participants, who will seek ways to curb wanton killing of wildlife for the illegal trade. 

It’s a powerful delegation that gives the impression that somehow the anti-poaching drive in the region will get a boost.  

But even as the powerful delegation meets to the pave the way forward, conservationists trying to save the elephants believe the courts will play a significant part in the fight against poaching.