Elephant ivory trade threatens peace in central Africa: UN

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that illegal trade of elephant ivory is threatening peace and security in central Africa.

In a report to the United Nations Security Council, Ban said that the illegal trade has become a major source of funding for armed groups in the volatile region, The Associated Press reported on Wednesday.

“Poaching and its potential linkages to other criminal, even terrorist, activities constitute a grave menace to sustainable peace and security in central Africa,” the secretary general was quoted as saying in the report.

He said that certain African governments are already using armed forces to hunt down poachers due to the sensitive situation in the countries.

According to the report, more than 11,000 elephants were killed in northeastern Gabon between 2004 and 2013, over 300 elephants were slaughtered in Cameroon in the last two months of 2012, and 86 elephants were slain in a week in March 2013.

Ban said the hunters are using more sophisticated and powerful weapons that “might be originating from the fallout in Libya.”

He called on the Security Council to consider sanctions against those who have committed “gross human rights violations” in central Africa.

Both African and Asian elephants are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which strictly controls the trade in ivory and ivory products.