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Southern
Sudanese rebels belonging to the Sudan People's
Liberation Army have been linked to poachers who
kill elephants for ivory in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, according to national park authorities.
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One
park official said that 200 to 300 people were involved,
and that only 14,000 elephants remained in the country
of 90,000 before war there began in 1997.
A
spokesman said that what began as poaching for meat two
years ago in Garamba National Park near the Sudanese border
has now turned to poaching for ivory.
Despite
an international ban on the sale of ivory, the BBC's Arnaud
Zajtman reported that it is still sold at the main tourist
market in Kinshasa.
UNESCO
has designated the five national parks in the nation as
World Heritage sites. The government
is hopeful now that the country's five-year war is over
that tourism to the parks will increase (BBC Online,
May 7).
Copyright.
National Journal Group. Year 2004.
