Major Elephant Refuge Goes Entire Year Without a Single Poaching

Good news.

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By Joe McCarthy
June 17, 2019

Not a single elephant has been poached over the past year in Mozambique’s Niassa wildlife reserve, a major achievement that puts an end to what had previously been considered a crisis, according to the Associated Press.

Thousands of elephants in the reserve were slaughtered for their tusks over the past few years to feed the underground ivory market, causing the area’s elephant population to decline by nearly 75%, the Associated Press reports.

The sudden reversal of the poaching rate reflects major investments in surveillance and deterrence efforts throughout the park and the swelling of political support for elephant safety that has taken place in recent years. Mozambique’s President Felipe Nyusi has become personally interested in the protection of elephants, and authorized an elite police unit to conduct patrols throughout the park and apprehend poaching suspects.

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