Report fingers South Sudan soldiers for poaching in DR Congo

Sudan People's Liberation Army-North soldiers gather around one of their tanks at Mufalu on the frontlines in South Kordofan on April 6, 2012. A new report titled "Tusk Wars" claims DR Congo's Garamba National Park loses up to 150 elephants yearly with park authorities estimating South Sudanese poachers are responsible for 80 per cent of the killing. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The report titled “Tusk Wars” finds evidence that Joseph Kony’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is trading ivory for weapons with Sudanese soldiers and merchants.
  • While Khartoum-backed Janjaweed militias are also involved in poaching, it blames armed forces from South Sudan for the bulk of the killing.

JUBA, Thursday

Soon after dawn on a Wednesday morning in mid-June wildlife rangers on patrol in Garamba National Park, a vast swathe of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, were ambushed.

A group of armed men attacked the anti-poaching patrol killing one ranger and two Congolese soldiers, each shot dead at close-range.

“They knew what they were doing,” said Garamba’s chief warden.

“There were 15 of them, judging from the tracks, who clearly had a military background, they were not simple poachers. They killed our guys from five metres away, execution style.”

According to the chief warden the killers were members of South Sudan’s national army (SPLA), who now pose one of the biggest threats to DR Congo’s dwindling population of elephants, and the rangers protecting them.

“The SPLA target the rangers specifically, they set up ambushes to hunt us down. It is unlike anything I have ever seen,” he said.

TUSK WARS REPORT

The chief warden’s account is contained in a new report by Mr Ledio Cakaj, a researcher for The Enough Project pressure group, investigating the role of armed groups in the illegal ivory trade.

The report titled “Tusk Wars” finds evidence that Joseph Kony’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is trading ivory for weapons with Sudanese soldiers and merchants.

While Khartoum-backed Janjaweed militias are also involved in poaching, it blames armed forces from South Sudan for the bulk of the killing.

“According to park rangers, the biggest current threat to both elephants and wildlife rangers in Garamba are poachers from South Sudan, reportedly part of the police or the national army,” Mr Cakaj said.

Roughly twice the size of Luxembourg, Garamba loses up to 150 elephants each year with park authorities estimating South Sudanese poachers are responsible for 80 per cent of the killing.

“The South Sudanese are ready to die for ivory, rather than spare the elephant or the ranger. Because it is so lucrative,” said Garamba’s chief warden.