Poaching of elephants has risen seven-fold in Kenya since a one-time ivory sale was approved in 2007 by CITES — the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species — for four African countries, the wildlife officials say. Last year 271 Kenyan elephants were killed by poachers, compared with 37 in 2007, Omandi said.
Tribesmen have lived among wildlife for centuries in Tsavo East, a huge expanse of wilderness where some 6,000 elephants live. But park officials say those locals are increasingly turning to poaching. An average set of tusks can net $2,000 or more locally — a huge sum to an impoverished rural family in an area where seasonal rains have failed the last five years, ruining crops and spreading hunger.
Kenyan officials are particularly angered that Tanzania wants to sell its ivory stocks. Kenya and Tanzania share a long border where parks like Kenya's Masai Mara and Tanzania's Serengeti National Park intertwine. As Omandi likes to point out, elephants carry no passports, and cross the border freely.
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