In the lush, rolling savanna that connects northern Tanzania to Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, foraging elephants move up and down slopes in the shadow of snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro.
The animals were accustomed to the open-top four-wheel-drive vehicles filled with tourists on the Kenyan side and seemed impervious to the danger of tourists pointing at their phones. But what the animals may not know is that right on the Tanzanian side of the border, as safe as the park has been for thirty years, there are now people with guns, not cameras.
Since September, five male elephants from the herd centered on Amboseli have been shot in the Tanzanian part of the wildlife corridor, likely by trophy hunters. At least two were so-called supertuskers, whose tusks were so long they could sweep across the ground.
There has not been a similar rapid killing spree in the area since the mid-1990s. Conservationists say this shows a breakdown in tacit understanding between countries banning hunting in border areas.
It also highlights the challenges faced by neighboring countries in coordinating different approaches to managing a shared wildlife heritage: Kenya bans hunting and generates all wildlife revenue through tourism. While wildlife viewing tours are an important part of Tanzania’s economy, the country also allows wealthy tourists to photograph large animals.
“It breaks my heart,” said Cynthia Moss, an American zoologist and director of the Amboseli Elephant Trust, which monitors the condition of the approximately 2,000 elephants in the Amboseli herd. She said there were about 10 of Amboseli’s super tuskers left, and about 15 left across Kenya. “I know these elephants. I know how trusting they are.
The killing sparked an uproar in Kenya. In April, dozens of leading conservationists wrote an open letter A request was made to the Tanzanian government to ban hunting within 25 miles of the Kenyan border.
A spokesman for Tanzania’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism said in an interview that the country’s conservation strategy is based on a “strong regulatory, research and scientific evidence base,” noting that Tanzania has the richest elephant population in Africa. one of the countries. The government has made statements in the past justifying hunting because it can bring in millions of dollars in much-needed revenue.
The Kenya Wildlife Service did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Kadu Sebenya, director of the African Wildlife Foundation, a Kenya-based conservation group, said it was unlikely that the elephant was shot by poachers. He noted that there was no indication that Tanzanian authorities were investigating. “If poachers illegally kill elephants in the same location, they will be punished by law,” he said.
Thirty years ago, an elephant massacre in Tanzania sparked similar outrage and led to the announcement of a moratorium on hunting.
In December 1994, three Amboseli statues were killed in succession near the town of Longido, about nine miles from the border, triggering strong protests in Kenya. In May 1995, Tanzanian authorities bowed to pressure from conservationists and scientists in Kenya and around the world and declared a nine-month hunting ban in the area.
Tanzanian officials have said the ban will be lifted once the two countries agree on clear protected areas in negotiations.
This is where things get confusing. While old newspaper clippings confirm the announcement of the ban, it’s unclear whether talks were held or whether the nine-month restrictions were lifted. There appears to be no evidence of any further action. But, for whatever reason, hunters avoided the area until recently.
Ms Moss and other conservationists in Kenya say there was an unspoken agreement between the two countries after the initial announcement, but that now appears to have broken down. Experts say they don’t know why. Tanzania’s conservation laws have not changed.
Meanwhile, Hunters say the lack of clarity means a deal simply doesn’t exist.
Tanzania now has about 60,000 elephants, down from about 316,000 in 1978.
As a keystone species, elephants not only shape the ecosystems of other wildlife (for example, by creating watering holes with their tusks and spreading seeds in their feces), but their intelligence and complex social structures mean that violent deaths can Traumatizes surviving elephants and leads to aggressive behavior.
The larger, older bulls that were targeted were considered vital for reproduction, spreading culture and maintaining social order. Male elephants live mostly outside the herd, and younger males sometimes spend time with older elephants, who impart knowledge such as where to forage and where to go when the seasons change.
They also model behavior. One study found that the absence of older bulls made younger bulls more aggressive.
According to Mr Sebenya, super tusks can even help young bulls learn which humans to avoid. “They told them, ‘When you see these tourist vehicles, you know they’re OK. But if you see other types of vehicles, that’s a problem,'” he said.
The first elephant in the recent wave of disappearances, Gilgil, a 35-year-old elephant who was killed in September, was one such elephant.
Ms Moss said singling out elephants like Gilgil “takes away the natural elements of competition and survival, allowing young, untested and perhaps less vigorous males to breed.”
Sports groups, on the other hand, claim that if managed properly, hunting can have a positive impact in poorer countries like Tanzania. (The country’s GDP per capita is about $1,200, compared with about $2,100 in Kenya, according to the World Bank.)
Zidane Janbeck and Quintin Whitehead, operators of Kilombero North Safaris, run safaris for elephants, lions, leopards and other large animals. Some hunting territories share a percentage of the revenue with the community. (Kilombero said it paid a total of $250,000 to the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area in 2023. Enduimet officials did not respond to a request for comment.)
Additionally, human-to-human conflict is increasing in Tanzania, driven in part by the country’s rapidly growing rural population and by more frequent and severe droughts in East Africa. But hunters say farmers are less likely to kill elephants that invade their fields if they know they will receive some of the hunting revenue.
Setting aside well-managed wilderness areas for hunting means less land is cleared for agriculture, they added.
Tanzania sets an annual quota for hunting animals (this year it was 50 elephants), and each hunting party must be supervised by officials.
Kilombero confirmed it had killed an elephant in the area where Gilgil’s body was found and his tusks were removed, but denied it had killed a super-tusker.
“We assure you that we are conservationists and we are not targeting large elephants,” Mr. Youngback, who led the September hunt, said in a video interview. “Everything we do is done according to Tanzania regulations. We have the support of the government. We have all the blessings of the local community.
In Longido, locals appear to be divided.
On a recent weekday, a group of men gathered for late-night drinks and weighed their stance on trophy hunting. As long as it’s legal, an older man concluded. A soft-spoken young man countered that it was wrong to take pleasure in killing people.
But do these people benefit from hunting revenue? “No.” Everyone shook their heads in unison. They say authorities favor wildlife and hunters while abandoning vulnerable farmers.
“You have to borrow money to develop your farm, but these elephants have destroyed your farm and we don’t get anything,” farmer Edward Masaki, 53, said in Swahili with a frown. Less than.
“Now I have people guarding my farm day and night with flashlights,” he said. “The annoying thing is you can’t kill animals when they attack.”
He was referring to Tanzania’s nationwide ban on killing wildlife to prevent poaching. Killing an animal without a license is punishable by rigorous imprisonment from three to thirty years.
Meanwhile, across the border, conservationists in Amboseli say they are waiting with fear for news that another giant tusker has been killed, even as they scramble to get a response from the Tanzanian government.
“All of our pleas fell on deaf ears,” Ms. Moss said. She said if the killings continued at the same pace, Amboseli’s tusks would be wiped out within two years, changing the ecosystem in unprecedented negative ways.
“The hunted population becomes unnatural because man is choosing who should pass on his genes and who should not, who should survive and who should die,” she said.
