USA: Man Sent To Prison For Smuggling Lion And Tiger Parts Worth $150,000

Officers monitoring black markets for wildlife products received intelligence in April 2016 that a man named Arogkron Malasukum, a U.S. citizen from Thailand, was on the hunt for a tiger skull. Malasukum, 42, who goes by Paul, said he’d pay $700 for the item.

Two weeks later Malasukum rapped on the door of a hotel room in the Dallas suburb of Lewisville, where his buyer and an associate, actually two undercover cops with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were waiting with the merchandise.

Malasukum paid cash. Then he allowed one of them to come along while he packed and shipped the bleached skull to his address in Queens, New York.

Malasukum said he was looking for some straw buyers to purchase tiger and lion parts at an auction house in Fort Worth, Texas.

He couldn’t buy the items because he lived in New York, and if he transported them to another state he’d be committing a felony in violation of the U.S. smuggling law.

The buyers were from Texas, allowing them to appear to be purchasing the skull legally.

The next day the men went to the auction. Communicating by text messages, speaking in hushed phone calls, and holding hurried meetings outside the auction hall, Malasukum orchestrated an agent’s bidding on a variety of wildlife items.

This including some body parts from an endangered African lion, spending more than $1,700 for his purchases.

Arriving back in New York, he yanked the dagger-sharp teeth out of the skull and sorted them and the other parts and claws from the auction into separate packages, a precaution to protect him from losing everything if an intact skull was intercepted by authorities.

He organized claws into different parcels. To disguise the contents, he wrote dog toys and home decorations on the labels.

Then he shipped the packages to a wholesale buyer in Thailand who makes jewelry trinkets and pendant necklaces from the tiny fragments of fierce creatures that once prowled the African savannas, kings and queens of their former domains.

Tiger and lion teeth and claws are highly sought in Asia to be made into pendants, believed to provide protection, and for ingredients in traditional medicines used to treat ailments and disease ranging from insomnia to malaria.

For the next year and a half, the agents maintained their cover as straw buyers, continuing to gather evidence until in October 2017 Malasukum was finally charged for smuggling 68 packages of lion and tiger parts worth $150,000.

In November he pleaded guilty to the charges, and on August 1, 2018, a federal judge in Sherman, Texas sentenced him to nine months in prison followed by one year supervised release for trafficking endangered wildlife.

It took hundreds of hours of undercover work, going through emails and text messages, and executing search warrants to prove the case, said Phillip Land, a Fish and Wildlife special agent who supervised the investigation.

Justice department lead council Gary Donner added, Traffickers like Paul create the market for these animal parts, which results in poachers looking to make money.

Malasukum’s attorney, Denise Benson, advised her client not to comment on this sentencing, because his understanding of English is limited, she said. But she confirmed that the court has directed him to report to jail on September 10.

According to the Justice Department, Malasukum’s case stemmed from an ongoing major Fish and Wildlife Service investigation targeting the illegal trade in rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory in response to international poaching and smuggling syndicates.

Named Operation Crash, the term for a group of rhinos, the multinational covert operation began seven years ago when wildlife law enforcement became aware of an increase in rhino poaching.

To date, dozens of people have been convicted of illegally trafficking rhino horns from Africa, resulting in more than $2.1 million in fines, $5.6 million in restitution, and 438 months in federal prison, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Each case has provided additional intelligence about other traffickers exploiting imperiled wildlife, from rhinos and elephants to tigers, lions, and pangolins.

Shennie Patel is a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s environmental crimes section who specializes in wildlife trafficking cases.

The Malasukum case reminded her of a 2013 Operation Crash conviction involving a father-son team, Vinh Chuong “Jimmy” Kha and Felix Kha, who were buying rhino horns and exporting them to Asia to be intricately carved into libation cups featuring twisting vines, landscapes, animals, and other designs.

Older people use the cups for traditional medicine, but the newly wealthy younger generation in Asia increasingly seek the cups, worth up to half-a-million dollars, as status symbols. Jimmy and Felix Kha made millions tapping into that high-end market.

When the Khas were arrested, in February 2012, agents seized in addition to the rhino parts a million dollars in cash, approximately a million dollars in gold ingots, jewelry, watches, precious stones, and a 2009 BMW.

Like the Khas, Malasukum was in the business of buying and selling, mainly at auctions. Those auctions often present opportunities for nefarious shoppers, Patel said.

The law says the auctions can sell protected species parts, and you can buy them, but you can’t turn around and sell them to someone in another state or another country, Patel explained.

That’s a federal violation. Most auction houses post signs about the law, but how do they keep track of what happens after buyers leave?

The demand for these parts is causing animals like rhinos, elephants, tigers, and lions to be poached at unprecedented rates. And the more rare an animal becomes, the more interest there is for trinkets.

A century ago, a hundred thousand wild tigers roamed Asia, from Turkey in the west to the eastern coast of Russia.

Today fewer than 4,000 remain in only 4 percent of their former range, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which keeps a red list of species’ conservation status.

The downward spiral of the tiger population is expected to continue in the face of ongoing habitat loss and poaching for the wildlife trade.

Lions are in serious trouble too. In the span of only a hundred years, lion populations have fallen from 200,000 to 20,000, according to the IUCN.

Killings in defense of people and livestock pose the biggest threat, but the trade in bones and other parts is playing a significant role too.

As tigers become scarcer, poachers are increasingly targeting African lions. They’re even passing lion teeth off as tiger.

This has to stop, Patel said. We’re reaching a point where we are going to lose the tigers in a few years, and lions will be on their way too.

With Malasukum’s conviction, wildlife crime fighters can chalk up another victory, though a small one in the grand scheme of the $20 billion illicit wildlife trade.

The future of the world’s most charismatic species rests heavily on the unssuaged demand for their parts.


Tourism Observer

DR CONGO: Two British Tourists Kidnapped And A Female Ranger Killed In Virunga National Park

Some tourists were kidnapped and a convoy attacked in the Virunga National Park, the Democratic Republic of Congo's famed haven for gorillas and other endangered species, a park source said.

The source did not specify the nationality of those abducted but said their guard was seriously injured.

A local journalist also tweeted about the kidnapping.

I confirm an attack on our convoy, Joel Wengamulay, the park spokesman said, without specifying if tourists were targetted or had been kidnapped.

On April 9, five rangers and a driver were killed in an ambush in the park, which was established in 1925.

One of the most important conservation sites in the world, it covers 7,800 square kilometres (3,011 miles), or three times the size of Luxembourg, along a swathe of eastern DR Congo abutting the border with Uganda and Rwanda.

Virunga is home to about a quarter of the world's population of critically-endangered mountain gorillas, as well as to eastern lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, okapis, lions, elephants and hippos.

But it is located in DR Congo's North Kivu province, where armed groups are fighting for control of territorial and natural resources, and poaching is a major threat.

It is believed they were visiting the world-famous gorilla sanctuary the Virunga National Park.

The tourists were reportedly taken on a route after a ranger was killed in the park today in North Kivu.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that the two Brits have been kidnapped.

An FCO spokesperson said We are in close contact with the authorities in Democratic Republic of the Congo following an incident involving two British nationals, and our staff are providing support to their families.

Radio Okapi, a local radio station said two British tourists were kidnapped and a female ranger had been killed 10km from Goma, which is a region south of Virunga National Park.

The Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation confirmed that two British tourists and their driver were kidnapped while a park guard was killed this morning.

A park spokesman told CNN that security staff were immediately deployed after there learned of the incident.

The Congo is currently faced with an outbreak of Ebola and the World Health Organisation is planning for the worst case scenario.

The WHO’s Deputy Director-General of Emergency Preparedness and Response Peter Salama is waiting for the country’s government to allow them to deploy a vaccine.

This will be the ninth time the virus has affected Congo and nine countries have been warned to prepare for the “worst case scenario”.

Between 2014 and 2016 Ebola swept across West Africa killing at least 11,000 people.



Tourism Observer

DR CONGO: Virunga National Park Sadly looses Six Rangers To Poachers Or Rebels

Six rangers were killed on Monday in an ambush in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Virunga National Park is a popular home for the rare mountain gorillas.

“We have sadly lost six rangers,” park spokesman Joel Malembe said, adding that the team was ambushed while driving between the sectors of Lulimba and Ishasha, near the border with Uganda.

A seventh ranger, the team’s leader, was wounded, he said.

The park, established in 1925, describes itself as Africa’s oldest national park.

One of the most important conservation sites in the world, it covers 7,800 square kilometres (3,011 miles), or three times the size of Luxembourg, along a swathe of eastern DR Congo abutting the border with Uganda and Rwanda.

Virunga is home to about a quarter of the world’s population of critically endangered mountain gorillas, as well as to eastern lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, okapis, lions, elephants and hippos.

Virunga National Park is located in North Kivu province, where armed groups are fighting for control of territorial and natural resources, and poaching is a major threat.

The park’s director, Emmanuel de Merode, a Belgian national, was himself wounded in a road ambush between the park and Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in May 2014.


Tourism Observer

KENYA: Food Vendors Want Ban On Game Meat Lifted

Kenya is seeking to reintroduce selling of game meat at restaurants and hotels to boost competitiveness of the facilities on the global culinary landscape.

Tourism secretary for tourism Najib Balala said his ministry will undertake research over the next year on farming of game ahead of the re-introduction.

We must benefit from game resource, my team is working on it and definitely we will encourage the farming of wildlife and then we will have availability of game meat being sold in our restaurants and our hotels, he said during the opening of Tamarind Tree Hotel in Nairobi.

Restaurants, including the Carnivore, have been lobbying the government to allow for the re-introduction since the 2004 ban, which only allows for sale of ostrich and crocodile.

Carnivore had been selling game meat since it was established in the early 1980s, but what it had been associated with for over two decades stopped abruptly, cutting out game meat enthusiasts from its customer base.

It has now become more of an events-hosting entertainment facility rather than the game meat haven it was famed for.

Killing of wildlife for sport was introduced in Kenya in 1910, but was banned in 1977 when the number of certain species fell drastically.

The poaching concern led to the ban on the sale or import of game meat despite constant lobbying by restaurants.

Since then, visitors expecting to sample game meat of antelopes, gazelles, zebras, wildebeests among other wild animals have had to bear with whetting their appetites with ostrich and crocodile.

Wildlife species that have significantly declined and are critically threatened in Kenya include elephants, rhinos, Grevy Zebra, bongos, lions and cheetahs, among others. Some are hunted in conflict, for game meat and trophies.

There are only 30 Sable antelopes in Kenya currently, 3,765 Grevy zebras and less than 2,000 lions, according to KWS data submitted to Parliament.

The numbers are set to keep dropping if these animals are not protected.

Licensed game meat sellers in Kenya are rethinking their business models following a continued sales ban and refusal by the government to allow imports from South Africa.

A restaurant such as the Carnivore which has been selling game meat since the early 1980s has now become more of an events-hosting entertainment facility rather than a game meat haven it has been known for.

Sale of any game meat was banned in Kenya in 2004 because of concerns over poaching, forcing game meat outlets to restrict themselves to selling crocodile and ostrich meat whose sale remains open.

“Our customers have become disappointed over the last few years because the government won’t even allow us to import game meat from South Africa,” said Martin Dunford, the chairman of the Tamarind Group, which owns the Carnivore Restaurant.

Carnivore has been selling game meat since it was established in the early 1980s, but what is has been associated with for over two decades stopped abruptly, cutting out game meat enthusiasts from its customer base.

Since then, visitors expecting to sample game meat of antelopes, gazelles, zebras, wildebeests among other wild animals have to bear with the only two types on offer ; the ostrich and the crocodile.

“We shall continue lobbying the government to lift the ban or allow us to import from South Africa because it is an added advantage to the restaurant and the tourism industry,” said Mr Dunford, whose company also operated a game meat restaurant in South Africa.

“Our business has been under severe attack because we have specialised and associated with the game meat for many years.”

Kenya currently cannot sell game meat as one of the delicacies visitors can find in the country, letting the opportunity slip to South Africa, where game meat industry thrives.

Statistics indicate that South Africa has 11,000 private game ranches that supply to the game meat outlets across the country. Kenya has 17 private and group game ranches.

The ban has also affected ranchers like the Delamare, which supplied game meat outlets.

The trade offered them alternative income stream from culling the animals in their ranches.

Forestry and Wildlife Minister Noah Wekesa said that despite requests from game meat sellers, the ban will stay in place to check on poaching, a crime that has been rising in the country.

“I have said the ban will stay to safeguard the wildlife,” said the minister, without giving indications whether the lifting of the ban for game meaty sellers will be considered.

Game meat sellers urge that allowing controlled sale of the delicacy helps to put more value to animals in an addition to the value derived from tourism, as long as that animal is not classified as an endangered species.

Because more than 50 per cent of wildlife in Kenya live in unprotected areas, it is argued the policy of restricting consumption of game meat by the hosts mostly farmers and pastoralists, worsens the human-wildlife conflict to the detriment of the animals.

Despite the ban on sale of game meat, trends of poaching in Kenya over the last three years have been rising, with the number of elephant deaths in that period growing by five times.

Data from various sources show that while 47 elephants died in 2007 due to poaching, the number rose to 145 in 2008 and to 216 in 2009.

Bonaventure Ebayi, the director of the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF), a regional anti-poaching initiative, said poachers are using technology to increase attacks against food and non-food wildlife.


Tourism Observer

TANZANIA: Lenient Sentences By Courts Of Law Fail To Protect Wildlife

Lenient sentences issued by courts of law have been mentioned as part of obstacles in maintaining sustainable conservation of the national parks.

Rubondo Island National Park Acting Chief Park Warden, Mr Emmanuel Kaaya, sounded an alarm that there is a need to review some laws as poachers find them too soft and keep degrading the parks.

He gave an example that some poachers and illegal fishermen who destroy fish breeding grounds, catch huge numbers of fish and degrade the environment that has been conserved for long, but end up getting a few months behind bars or conditional discharges.

"We are facing a huge challenge because we try our best to protect the park, arrest poachers but when we get to the court they are given lenient sentences, such as a 20,000/- fine and conditional discharge while what they get in their illegal activities is highly valued," said Mr Kaaya.

He noted that in the last financial year some 700 people were arrested for going against the Tanzania National Parks Act, Wildlife Act as well as the Fishing Act.

Mr Kaaya noted that most of the culprits come from Misongo, Ikuza, Maisome and other parts of Chato District and that many are not residents near the area; hence it is difficult to trace them.

However, he commended the courts for a job well done in dealing with such matters, noting that more than 95 percent of the cases are won by the park. He appealed for the media to promote national parks so as to increase tourists, both local and foreign and hence boost national income.

Mr Kaaya noted that a lot of resources are employed to protect the park but there are fishing camps around it. He attributed this to low numbers of tourists to the island which is not known. However, he said strategies have been put in place to promote it.

The park has offered support to the community, such as construction of a dispensary at Maisome, an administration block at Maisome Secondary School as well as office equipment and desks.

Tourism Warden, Mr Fadhili Kimambo said the park boasts of many animals such as bushbucks, elephants, giraffe, chimpanzees and snakes in a thick, well conserved forest.

TANZANIA: Katavi National Park Is A Promising Holiday Destination

Seldom visited, Katavi National Park is a true wilderness, providing few intrepid souls who make it here with a thrilling taste of Africa, as it shoukd have been a century ago.

The park was created in 1974, now located in Katavi region in the remote southwest, covering 4,471 square kilometers, which makes it the third largest national park in Tanzania. It encompasses the Katuma River, the seasonal Lake Katavi and Lake Chada floodplains.

The park provides tourists with walking, driving and camping safaris. Near Lake Katavi, people can visit the tamarind tree inhabited by the spirit of the legendary hunter Katabi, for whom the park is named, and offerings are still left there by locals seeking the spirit's blessings.

Acting Chief Park Warden, Mr Frederick Mofulu says the park that is within a truncated arm of the Rift Valley has a lot to offer to tourists, but faces enormous challenges in conserving it and getting rid of poachers.

Warden Mofulu says the park authority has intensified patrols using airplane to track and control poachers and use of arms by individuals and groups in the area. He says that the park in collaboration with the police has been running operations to ensure no arms proliferation in the area and also see to it that they bring an end to poaching.

Mr Mofulu says by using airplane to patrol the park now the situation is good. He says it is believed that some refugees in the district from Burundi have firearms and use them for poaching. "We use intelligence to track the firearms outside and within the park.

We cooperate with police outside the park so as to preempt poaching missions and we are succeeding and no elephant has been killed for a while now. We have successfully got some from the people," says the chief.

He notes that they collaborate also with traditional leaders, encouraging good neighborhood and raise awareness to their people of importance of conserving the park and avoid intruding the park that is famous for having hippopotamus.

The Chief Park Warden says patrol against grazing cattle in the park has been successful, highlighting that since March this year people have been charged fines for entering about 4,000 cattle in the park.

Mr Mofulu notes that the situation in Burundi before and after the general election has caused number of refugees to go down. He says that most foreign tourists come from the country that shares a boarder with the park.

In 2014/15 there were a total of 4,335 tourists in the park but the trend shows that in 2015/16 the number will not reach that, attributing the fall to Burundi political crisis. Mr Mofulu calls upon Tanzanians to make internal tourism in the park.

A special committee has been formed to find a solution to water problem as at times Lake Katavi is found with little water while hippos, crocodiles and other animals and birds rely on it for their survival.

He notes that people have been using water from Katuma River, diverting it from going to the lake, hence causing huge concern to park authority and that a research is being carried out on better water management from the river.

Katavi Region is a home to two refugee camps, which are Katumba and Mishamo and sometimes refugees mix themselves with citizens. Mr Mofulu says that Katavi National Park's most singular wildlife spectacle is provided by it hippos.

Towards the end of the dry season, up to 200 individuals might flop up together in one place, so does male rivalry heat up. "Bloody territorial flights are an everyday occurrence, with the vanquished male forced to lurk hapless on the open plains until it gathers sufficient confidence to mount another challenge and such thing are for tourists to enjoy," he notes.

The bulk of Katavi supports a hypnotically featureless cover of tangled brachystegia woodland, home for substantial but elusive populations of the localized eland, sable and roan antelopes.

But the main focus for game viewing within the park is the Katuma River and associated floodplains such as the seasonal lakes Katavi and Chada. During the rainy season, the lush, marshy lakes are a haven for myriad water birds, and they support Tanzania's densest concentration of hippos and crocodiles. It is during the dry season when the floodwaters retreat that Katavi truly comes into its own.

The Katuma, reduced to a shallow, muddy trickle, forms the only source of drinking water for miles around, and the flanking floodplains that support game concentration that defy belief.

A huge number of elephants might converge on the area, together with several herds of 1,000 plus buffalo, while abundance of giraffe, zebra, impala and reedbuck provide easy pickings for the numerous lion prides and spotted hyena clans whose territories converge on the floodplains. Mr Mofulu the park that is on the east of Lake Tanganyika can be reached by charter flights from Dar es Salaam or Arusha or by road.

"A tough but spectacular day's drive from Mbeya (550 kilometers) or in the dry season from Kigoma (some 390 kilometers). It is also possible to reach Mpanda by rail from Dar es Salaam via Tabora then catch public transport to Sitalike, where game drives can be arranged. If travelling overland, one must allow plenty of time to get at the park and back," he says.

The best time is the dry season, that is May to October as roads within the park as always flooded during rainy season. Wildlife features include large animal herds, such as buffaloes, zebras, wildebeests, giraffes, and elephants.

Along the Katuma River there are many crocodiles and hippos, which upon annual dry seasons results in mud-holes that can be packed with hundreds of hippos. Carnivorous animals that roam the park are cheetahs, wild dogs, hyenas, leopards, and lions. Some sources claim a very high biodiversity in the park.

There were reports of wildlife decline due to illegal hunting and poaching, but according to Mofulu, the situation is all but contained. Katavi National parks is the core of the western Tanzanian wildlife reserves and one of the biggest and richest wildlife areas in Tanzania with concentration of diverse habitat mammals and bird species in the parks wetlands, lakes, woodlands and shrub lands holding dear some endangered and unusual species.

TANZANIA: Lake Manyara National Park

Plains zebras in Lake Manyara National Park

Lake Manyara National Park is a Tanzanian national park located both in Arusha Region and Manyara Region, Tanzania. The two administrative regions have no jurisdiction over the parks. The park is governed by the Tanzania National Parks Authority. The majority of the land area of the park is a narrow strip running between the Gregory Rift wall to the west and Lake Manyara, an alkaline or soda-lake, to the east.

The park consists of 330 km2 (130 sq mi) of arid land, forest, and a soda-lake which covers as much as 200 km2 (77 sq mi) of land during the wet season but is nearly nonexistent during the dry season.

Lake Manyara National Park is known for the flamingos that inhabit the lake. During the wet season they inhabit the edges of the lake in flocks of thousands but they are not so present during the dry season.

More than 400 species of birds inhabit the park and many remain throughout the year. Because of this Lake Manyara National Park is a good spot for bird watching. Visitors to the park can expect to see upwards of 100 different species of bird on any day.

Leopards, Masai lions, cheetahs, elephants, blue monkeys, dik-dik, gazelles, hippopotami, Masai giraffe, impala, zebras and many more wild animals inhabit this park and many can be seen throughout the year. There is a hippo pond at one end of the park where visitors can get out of their cars and observe from a safe distance. The leopards and lions are both known to lounge in the trees while not hunting for prey.

Lake Manyara National Park is located 126 km (78 mi) south west of Arusha and can be reached by car in an hour and a half. The park can also be reached easily from Babati the capital of Manyara Region. The park is also very close to Tarangire National Park There is also an airport, Lake Manyara Airport (LKY), located at the top of the rift wall.

South Africa Moves To Attract Indian Tourists

South Africa has identified India as a key focus market for boosting tourism and it will shortly launch an aggressive campaign to attract tourists from there.

South Africa has identified India as a key focus market for boosting tourism and it will shortly launch an aggressive campaign to attract tourists from there.

South African Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom announced this at the INDABA tourism fair here. He said that the country had received more than 80,000 Indian tourists last year and his ministry planned to dedicate to India a significant part of its advertising budget of nearly $8 million this year, with the objective of boosting significantly the arrivals from India.

“India has a huge potential and our challenge is to see what is needed in order for this market to grow and for us to get a fair share of the huge pool of Indian travellers,” Hanekom said.

He said Indian travellers felt at home in South Africa as they had a very large population of people of Indian origin, especially in Durban.
“Mahatma Gandhi had also lived here in Durban. Here, just like in India, we have different cultures and different religions living in harmony with one another,” he added.

INDABA, which means gathering in Zulu, has positioned itself as the largest tourism fair in the African continent and attracts participation from all African countries which come to display their new products and services, as tourism is an essential sector for creating employment as well as economic growth in the least developed continent in the world.

“The safari experience is certainly one of the key selling point of Africa. We don’t have the Taj Mahal or some of the incredible sites that you have in India, but here in South Africa, you can be guaranteed to see the Big 5 (Lions, Elephants, Rhinos, Buffaloes and Leopards) in just one, single safari,” Hanekom said.

Tourism to South Africa and other African countries was severely hit by fears arising from the fresh outbreak of Ebola epidemic in West African nations of Liberia, Sierre Leone and Guinea. The market has begun to show signs of recovery, now that the outbreak has subsided.

The minister said that tourists’ fears were misplaced about contracting the virus in South Africa. “In fact, Europeans were much closer to where Ebola was happening than we were in South Africa,” Hanekom said.

Apart from a subsiding Ebola, Hanekom placed his hopes on boosting arrivals from India on the ease of visa regulations for Indians visiting South Africa. Earlier, the visa regulations were strict and it would take up to three weeks for getting permission to travel. In April this year, after Hanekom’s visit to India, the norms have been eased and visas should be easier and quicker to obtain for Indians.

“The problem is that our consulate and embassies were having difficulties in answering and handling the visa demands during the peak travel season in India and it often took up to three weeks for delivering visas. That is simply too long. I am convinced that if we manage to make the visa easier we can double the numbers in a couple of years,” Hanekom explained.

For many Indians, the country is also perceived as an elite and expensive destination just like European countries, but in recent months a weakening Rand has allowed more Indians to visit and spend more.

Another peculiarity of the Indian travellers is that they like to visit several countries on a trip. While in Europe and North America it is simpler due to visa-free travel between nations, it is still a challenge in Africa.

This point was a focus of discussions at the INDABA this year and various African countries have begun looking at how to facilitate such seamless travel in Africa. Hanekom admitted that security and instability issues in some African nations remained an important barrier to visa-free travel within the continent.

The minister also allayed fears of travellers that that some areas in South Africa were unsafe.

Hanneli Slabber, country manager of South Africa Tourism in India, said: “I guess you have to beware of pickpockets anywhere in the world. Indians visiting South Africa enjoy adventure and activities and they buy triple the amount of activities than those from other nations. Indian women are actually leading in terms of numbers and they like the country and feel safe.”

Slabber said that now a lot of vegetarian options, including vegan and Jain food, are available in the country and there were several Indian restaurants. “Our cuisine is influenced by Indian curries as well and a lot of South Africans, not necessarily of Indian origin, can cook good Indian cuisine,” he added.

However, in a blow to tourism from India, the national carrier, South African Airways, facing a shortage of aircraft, has stopped the only direct flights from India (Mumbai) to South Africa, forcing Indian tourists to go for alternatives like Emirates or Qatar with one-stop flights.

TANZANIA: Udzungwa Mountains

Safari Itineraries with Mount Kilimanjaro and MountMeru Climb, Oldoinyo Lengai, Usambara and Pare Walking Tours...

Forest wonderland
The park is in iringa and Morogoro regions in south-central Tanzania. It is bordered by Great Ruaha River to the north and the Mikumi-Ifakara road to the East. It covers an area of 1900 square kilometers; its headquarters are at Mang’ula, 60 kilometers from Mikumi.

The major attraction is its biologically diverse and unique forest that harbors plant species found nowhere else in the world, from tiny African violets to giant trees 30 metres and more tall.

Apart from about six species of primates, its plateaus contains populations of Elephants, Buffaloes, Lions, Leopards, Hunting Dogs, and several hundred forest bird species.

Facilities;
There are two modest but comfortable lodges with en-suite rooms near the park entrance. Some camping areas have been established inside the park.

KENYA: 107 Wildlife Face Extinction

Up to 107 of Kenya’s wildlife species are slowly edging towards extinction with their numbers having more than halved in the past three decades, a new report says.

The report, which was compiled by Parliament’s Environment and Natural Resources committee, says wildlife populations of different species have declined by between 30-90 per cent since 1977 and warns that some animals could disappear in the next few decades if the trend is allowed to continue.

“The wildlife species that have significantly declined and are critically threatened include elephants, rhinos, Grevy’s zebra, roan and stable antelopes, hirolas, bongos, lions and cheetahs, among others,” the committee chaired by Nominated MP Amina Abdalla says.

Besides poaching, the committee found that habitat loss due to increasing human settlement and developments, human-wildlife conflict, bush meat hunting, climate change and diseases is also contributing to the dwindling numbers.

“Trade in wildlife bush meat was widespread and went on unabated, reaching a commercial scale where meat is sold openly in markets such as Burma in Nairobi,” the committee said.

The MPs found that although much of the publicity on loss of wildlife has focused on elephants and rhinos, other species are facing similar or even higher levels of threat to their survival.

Kenya has a total of 8,654 known wildlife species, according to the report which further states that the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 witnessed the highest levels of poaching since the crisis began in the 1980s.

KENYA: Samburu National Park First In Africa On Google Street View

Google Street View has launched its maps of Kenya's Samburu National Park, which allows internet users to take a virtual safari in the conservancy.

The initiative, launched together with the charity Save the Elephants, wants to promote wildlife conservation.

The project aims to tell the stories of the elephant families in the park.

The Google Street View car drove through the park in February 2015, assuaging any fears that the tool could inadvertently help poachers.

The route follows one of the roads through the 165 sq km (65 sq mile) central Kenyan reserve and does not let the user go off-road.

Elephants, zebra and a leopard can be seen dotted along the way.

The Kenya Tourist board says it is the country's first national park to be accessible in such a virtual way.

"We hope that by bringing Street View to Samburu, we will inspire people around the world to gain a deeper appreciation for elephants," Google Kenya's Farzana Khubchandani said.

The Samburu county governor, Moses Lenolkulal, also attended the ceremonial launch.

"The more people experience our culture, our people and the majestic elephants and other wildlife with which we co-exist, the more we are able to conserve and sustain the Samburu culture and its fragile ecosystem for generations to come," he said.

Two of the main families of elephants captured by Street View are the Harwoods and the Spice family who have been identified by the shape of their tusks.

David Daballen, head of field operations at Save the Elephants,that he could recognise more than 600 elephants.

He said he hoped the glimpse into the park would inspire people to help with the elephants' plight.

Conservationists say the ivory trade and loss of habitat are putting Africa's elephant population at risk.

According to Save the Elephants, an estimated 100,000 elephants were killed for their ivory in Africa between 2010 and 2012.

GABON: UK Troops Sent To Gabon To Fight Illegal Trade

British troops have been sent to Gabon to tackle an increase in ivory poaching.

The 12 Northern Ireland-based soldiers are on their way to the African country, which has seen widespread elephant killings for their tusks.

Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba requested help in battling the international trade.

Most of the country's elephants have been illegally poached for trade to Asia, leaving the population dwindling.

The elephants inhabit the Minkebe National Park, which has a forest the size of Belgium.

About 15,000 of the forest's 22,000 elephants are said to have been killed by poachers.

The UK soldiers have been drawn from the Royal Scots Borderers, the Rifles and other specialist corps and will work alongside local rangers at a training centre in Mokekou.

Military input cannot solve this alone, but it can help at the tactical level, said Maj Mark Shercliff.

The ivory trade has been banned since 1989 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, but a black market is still thriving.

About 30,000 African elephants were killed by poachers last year, according to charity WWF.