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JOHANNESBURG — Zimbabwe's sale of almost 4 tons of ivory Monday raised $450,000 for conservation in a country whose economic crisis has left authorities battling to maintain vast reserves and protect elephants, rhinos and other game.
The sale in Harare is part of series of ivory auctions being held for the first time in a decade.
Last year, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ruled that Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe could sell 108 tons of stockpiled ivory to approved Japanese and Chinese buyers. The final sale will take place in South Africa this week.
The funds from Monday's sale will be used for elephant conservation and to help authorities better manage the country's national parks, said Morris Mtsambiwa, director-general of the Zimbabwe Parks Authority.
Zimbabwe's economic crisis, which has led to a critical shortage of food, fuel and other basic goods, has had a devastating effect on a country once known for its natural beauty and wealth of wildlife.
Endangered rhinos are being killed by poachers while the illegal trade in game meat is flourishing as hungry Zimbabweans turn to alternative sources of food.
Man-made watering holes have dried up because of a lack of fuel to keep pumps going, forcing animals to travel long distances in search of water. In some cases, they are even fighting each other for precious drops to drink.
"The situation is very bad. It's very sad," said Amir Khalil, from View Pfoten, an international animal welfare organization that recently sent a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe.
Khalil and his team toured the Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe's flagship reserve, and found it devastated by drought and littered with snare traps. "Animals are being wounded from the snares and there are no vets," he said.
Tom Milliken of TRAFFIC, an international organization that monitors the illegal trade in wildlife, said there had been a "major increase in poaching" for food.
"As the economic situation worsens, hunger and poverty in rural areas is greater than ever," he said.
Milliken warned that organized syndicates who targeted rhinos for their horns were reversing gains made to boost their numbers. Mtsambiwa, the parks official, acknowledges rhino poaching is "out of control."
