Since 1980s, Liberia Has Lost 95% Of Its Elephants To Poachers - Mongabay

[hatrack]

Since the 1980s, Liberia has lost 19,000 elephants to illegal poaching, according to Patrick Omondi of the Kenya Wildlife Service speaking in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. The poaching of Liberia's elephants has cut the population by 95% leaving only 1,000 elephants remaining.

"Though, Liberia opposes trade in ivory, but, the trade is still being illegally practiced in the country. This trade is having negative impact on your resources, therefore, we all need to join efforts to conserve your wildlife resources," Omondi said as reported by the Liberian Observer.

Omondi made the statements at a conference meant to reactivate Liberia's participation in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Civil war rocked Liberia beginning in the 1980s through 2003, leading to the deaths of an estimated 200,000 people. The war also took a heavy toll on the nation's rich natural resources and wildlife with illegally harvested timber playing a major role in funding the conflict.

EDIT

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0124-hance_liberia.html

[DCKit]

1. Armed conflicts always seem to be accompanied by the ability of a few to make huge fortunes.

This is a golden age of war profiteering.