Louisa Lombard

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Blame War, Not Safaris

MundoÁfrica,

Safari hunting strikes many people as distasteful in the best of times, and during a conflict, as morally outrageous. The Central African Republic is at war again, and two loose-knit coalitions — one mostly Muslim, the other mostly Christian — are massacring each other. Yet the trophy hunting goes on. A few intrepid foreigners are traveling to the eastern parts of the republic to kill Lord Derby Eland, the largest antelope in Africa, and its shy forest cousin, the bongo.

Earlier this month, Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, tweeted at a local safari operator: “No, it is not OK for ignorant US hunters 2 come hunt 4 sport in #CARcrisis at time its people r hunted w hate.”…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica,

The West is focused on the conflict in Mali these days, but there has also been fighting in the Central African Republic. A rebel takeover of Bangui, the capital, was narrowly averted by emergency peace talks last week.

This war may not seem as alarming as Mali’s, but it is worth noting for another reason: The C.A.R. has long been a laboratory for international peace-building initiatives, and they have failed again. The latest negotiations, held in Gabon, were the fourth major round of talks since 2002. In fact, the latest fighting was led by Seleka, a coalition of rebel groups most of which had previously signed peace agreements, and it grew out of the failures of earlier international efforts.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfricaReflexionesNaturaleza

The latest casualty figures in the ancient war of man versus beast in Africa are in, and they look bad for both sides.

At least 25,000 elephants may have been slaughtered in Africa in 2011 — more than in any year since reporting began in 2002 — according to Kenneth Burnham, the statistician for Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants, an intergovernmental research agency.

Hundreds of humans have also died as a result of the elephant slaughter — not just from scattered maulings or tramplings, but from bullets fired by other humans fighting on the animals’ behalf.

Since the 1980s, under the mantle of conservation efforts and with funding from the European Union, governments, NGOs and private associations, African park guards have fought a rarely discussed low-level war against poachers.…  Seguir leyendo »