Poachers and Tourists neck and neck in Black Africa

The difficulties of protecting Africa’s emblematic animal species such as rhinos and elephants worry tourism professionals, who fear that they will hinder the flow of foreign visitors to the continent.

« Evidently, they have a negative impact« , summarized the head of the African Tourism Association (ATA), Naledi Khabo, at an industry summit held in Cape Town (southwest) at the initiative of Airbnb.

«  Whether it is humans or animals, seeing deaths like this has consequences for our business, » she added.

In recent weeks, several events have tarnished Africa’s image as a wildlife sanctuary, one of its main « products of appeal« .

First there was the fiasco of the ill-prepared transfer of eleven rhinos from one Kenyan park to another, which resulted in their death by dehydration.

« It’s unfortunate (…), it’s clear that the case was not well managed by my officers, and we took steps to remedy it, » said Kenya’s Minister of Tourism Najib Balala in Cape Town.

Then there was the Botswana elephants case, which is home to their largest population in Africa.

Its highly repressive arsenal has made this country a model in the fight against poaching. But earlier this month, an NGO denounced the death of about 100 pachyderms in an unprecedented massacre it attributed to the authorities’ decision to disarm its « rangers ».

The Gaborone government and scientists have questioned the reality of these massacres, but too late, the country’s reputation has already suffered from the incident.

Strong measures to be planned

Environmental crimes cost developing countries more than $70 billion a year.

Africa is the target of poachers who are tearing off the tusks of its elephants and the horns of its rhinos to satisfy, at a golden price, the demand for traditional Asian medicine.

In recent years, countries hosting safari enthusiasts have considerably increased their resources to combat ivory trafficking.

Efforts praised by tour operators. « It is essential that the government and tourism professionals take strong measures and severely punish traffickers, » says Naledi Khabo.

« The number of protected rhinos in Kenya has increased from 300 thirty years ago to more than 1,200 today. And we have 35,000 elephants compared to only 16,000 thirty years ago « , his Minister of Tourism is proud.

According to Anita Mendiratta, the fight against traffickers and poachers has even become a demand of visitors.

« Tourists tell us « it’s not right« , she says, « the fight against poaching is at the heart of their concerns. Tourist activism has become an important part of our industry« .

A former Tanzanian « ranger » converted to safari, Loserian Laizer also thinks that « smuggling is harmful to tourism« . He says that in the famous South African park Kruger, visitors complain about the noise of aerial surveillance patrols.