1) Poaching of African elephants in Niassa National Park in Mozambique is occurring at an alarming rate of approximately 5 elephants per day. Organized criminal groups armed with AK47s and large caliber hunting rifles are killing elephants mainly for their ivory tusks. 2) The author describes encountering many elephant carcasses during aerial surveys, including calves left orphaned and adults shot numerous times. The scale of poaching is having devastating impacts on the elephant populations in the park. 3) While anti-poaching efforts are underway, the author believes that more coordinated international action is needed to curb demand for ivory products, especially in Asia, to have any chance of preventing the local extinction of

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CONSERVATION & HUNTING
by Benjamin Osmers
The term ground zero describes the point on the
Earth’s surface closest to a detonation.
The term has often been associated with nuclear
explosions and other large bombs, but is also
used in relation to earthquakes, epidemics and
other disasters to mark the point of the most
severe damage or destruction.
Poaching of African elephants (Loxodonta
africana) is growing dramatically. In 2012, The
New York Times reported on a large upsurge in
ivory poaching, with about 70% flowing to China.
IUCN conservation status: Vulnerable A2a ver 3.1.
A
n idealistic dream of the
modern-day cowboy
taming Africa with his
steel horse, settling into an
African sunset, and sipping on
a Jack Daniels with a feeling
of contentment about the new
adventure. But it all turns into
heartbreaking reality in the blink
of an eye with sleepless nights,
rolling over in your bed thinking
what you missed or could have
done, or what to do tomorrow to
be that one step ahead.
Monday morning, the first rays
of light start to break the dawn ...
the heli is fueled up ... bags, tents,
blow-up mattresses and pillows,
water purifiers, and mosquito
repellent, are all packed.
It’s the start of a long day from
Hoedspruit base to Beira for the
first half of the trip up to Niassa
National Park. It’s two full days of
flying to our destination, the first
leg being to Beira – not one of
my favourite cities, but it serves
as a good central stop. Day two
requires a 07h00 departure from
Benjamin Osmers
The reality
is that Africa
is eating itself due to population
increases and poverty – with the
fuel on the fire being the eastern
demand for African commodities
like timber and wildlife parts. This
offers the dream of a way out
of poverty for some who then
embody the face of the problem,
but have yet not become the core
of it.
Unidentified woman from Mursi Tribe
on 10 August 2014. Mursi wear many
ornaments made by natural materials,
like elephant teeth.
Hidden disposable camera captures
disturbing content - elephant
poachers - the legs are used to
make furniture, chairs and coffee
tables.
CONSERVATION & HUNTING
the Golden Peacock Chinese
hotel – with a touch of reality
as we leave the garden with a
statue of an elephant guarding
the entrance. It makes one ask
whether the whole world has not
lost its sense of reality – as this
embodies everything that the
fight is about.
Two days of flying later and
we can see the two picturesque
inselbergs of Mbatamila HQ rising
in front of us. We have made it
but... it’s only the beginning...
Mozambique flag painted on a man’s face
symbolizing support for his country Mozambique.
Fallen brothers. Driving this
illicit market for ivory is
increased consumer demand in
Asia, particularly in China and
Vietnam. According to a U.N. report
from last year, large seizures of
ivory bound for Asia have more
than doubled since 2009.
Ground
Zero

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soon come to face when the
commodities in the rest of Africa
become scarce. As with the rhino
problem, which we blindly walked
into after we saw what was
happening right next to us.
CONSERVATION & HUNTING
NiassaReserve,Niassa Province,
the northern Mozambique border
withTanzania: 4 million hectares,
and twice the size of Kruger. If I
close my eyes and picture Eden, it
is here in the heart of wild Niassa,
with the Lugenda River flowing
through its centre, up to 300 m
wide, and inselbergs towering
above the landscape up to 2000
feet high. This might not sound
impressive, but I’m talking about
one single rock which gets called
a mountain ... now that demands
respect!
But below the surface of this
beautiful part of Africa lies a
problem which South Africa will
Niassa Reserve is a nature
reserve in Cabo Delgado
Province and Niassa Province,
Mozambique. Covering over
42,000 square kilometres
(10,000,000 acres), it is the
largest protected area in
the country. The reserve is
part of the Trans-Frontier
Conservation Area and links
to the Tanzanian Lukwika-
Lumesule Game Reserve. Photo
by DR Colleen Begg.
Niassa is losing about five elephant per day and the writing
is on the wall for these poor animals with no safe haven,
and with only a handful of people to protect them.This is
almost zero taking into consideration the size of the reserve,
infrastructure, resources and money...
CONSERVATION & HUNTING
Precious sighting of an elephant
and inselberg - the word inselberg
is German for “island mountain”.
Photo by DR Colleen Begg.
It’s my fifth year of working in
Niassa and I have changed from
hating it to where I’ve started
losing a piece of myself every
time I leave it ... It’s Africa as we
see it in the old black and white
photos, it’s pure, and it’s out there
shouting for the world to preserve
it.
In my two weeks here I’ve seen
death on a huge scale. I see it
enough in South Africa with rhino,
but this is simply on the next level
- seeing that these animals move
in herds unlike rhino. Meaning
more to shoot at, wound and
kill. Hunting here takes place in
groups - as security here is not
like in South Africa.
The camp site and fuel depot
from where anti-poaching
efforts are launched.

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One is talking about five to
seven people all with AK47s,
.375s and .458s - like a small
army going out to poach. You
find herds of elephant with only
two adults left as the bigger ivory
gets taken first. There are babies
While flying and having
a brief moment to reflect,
I think ABOUT what one
is actually up against and
ABOUT the bravery of
the scouts being deployed
- with some having a .375
that is being held together
with a piece of tube. I’m
thinking to myself that
it’s probably a bigger risk
firing the weapon than
being fired at, but they
still risk all for the sake
of saving their beloved
elephants. I never thought
that there are individuals
like this who actually
care SO MUCH about the
elephant in wild Niassa -
as opposed to just receiving
a salary...
Huge elephant bull shot 22 times with
AK47’s. Increasingly working hand in
hand with organised crime, poachers
over the past three years have killed
record numbers of elephants and
rhinoceroses in Africa. Some 50,000
elephants are being killed each year
in Africa, alongside 1,000 rhinos,
leaving perhaps as few as 250,000
elephants in the wild globally.
running around alone as they
probably could only stick it out
so long next to a dead mother’s
carcass.
I don’t want to even get into
the detail of the poaching on this
scale and how many elephant
are running around with bullets in
them, dying a slow and agonising
death. After a few days’ flying
around one starts to try to resist
entering new areas because of
the fear of what you will find ...
knowing that every new area
simply will reveal more death...
CONSERVATION & HUNTING
After another long day of flying
I’m lying in my tent with a herd of
about 20 elephant entering our
camp nearby, standing with their
feet about 1 m from one’s head -
without touching one single man-
made object, not the heli, not
even one tent. It’s almost like they
know who their protectors are and
it’s their way of showing respect
when they come to hide away
for safety at night, before being
slaughtered by other humans
when exiting the next day. It’s
so sad looking at these elephant
standing about 10 m away, staring
you straight in the eye, and yet
calm as ever. Thoughts come to
mind that if only they could learn
to hate humans, at least they
would have a fighting chance. But
it’s just so tranquil here, and hate
simply doesn’t exist, it’s purely
about survival of the fittest...
Benjamin, Carlos, Mike and scouts
following a successful anti-
poaching operation! Organised
crime syndicates based in
Mozambique are driving large
scale illegal trade in rhino horn
and elephant ivory.
Our generation of humans is no different to those in the
old pics, where we see mountains of ivory stacked up by the
pioneers raping Africa for all it was worth. It’s here again
and unless we all stand together - and I mean all, including
those abroad where the problem of demand originates -
we will be the last generation to see some of Africa’s most
spectacular species roaming wild...
Scan the QR code to listen to a song by BZN - Over The
Hills. This song was donated for saving the elephant, a
project in Kenya.
For more information
Contact
Benjamin Osmers:
benjaminosmers@gmail.com