The Forum article by Barbara Maas (26 August) and the letter from Dereck Joubert (7 October) presented a misleading picture of the report Four Years After the CITES ban: illegal killing of elephants, ivory trade and stockpiles. Most unfortunately, both Maas and Joubert minimised the most important findings: poaching of African elephants has increased, while funds to protect the elephant have plummeted in real terms since the ban's inception.
By comparing two post-ban periods, the report assessed poaching and the ivory trade after the 1990 ban. It found that poaching had increased in Kenya and other African countries between 1990 and 1993. This recent increase in poaching is of grave concern, but this point is missed by comparing the current level of poaching with that prior to the ivory ban.
It is this discouraging finding that most concerns us, and should concern everyone. An increasing number of dead elephants across ...
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