“A distressing photograph of a butchered elephant has been released, showing the true horror of ivory hunting in northern Botswana.
“The drone-shot image, titled 'Disconnection', shows the
bloody corpse of a mutilated African elephant with its severed trunk
dumped next to it and its tusks ripped out.
“According to reports, poachers use chainsaws to cut off the trunk and tusks of the powerful animals, leaving the rest of the body behind. The shocking pictures were captured by photographer Justin Sullivan, from Cape Town, South Africa.
“He said he was filming for a private company in Botswana and overheard rangers talking about the poached elephant. ‘They said an elephant had just been poached and I asked to be taken to the site. On arrival, I used a drone to capture the image,’ said the 28-year-old.
“‘The image is called 'Disconnection' - the perspective of the image gives context to the situation which you would never be able to see from the ground. The high angle looking top down shows isolation and highlights not only the physical disconnection of the animal, but our disconnection from the situation.
“‘The image has drawn a lot of attention. People have obviously reacted with mixed feelings of anger and sadness, especially with the recent lift on the hunting ban in Botswana, but this photo has driven some constructive dialogue around how we can promote more sustainable elephant conversation and solve our current ecological crisis.’
“…According to a report published on Thursday, between 2017 and 2018, around 400 were killed across the country. The research, carried out by Elephants Without Borders, was published in the scientific journal Current Biology alongside claims that pressure will be increased on Botswana, which last month caused international controversy when it announced that it was lifting the ban on hunting.
“The report said: ‘This evidence suggests that ivory poaching on the scale of hundreds of elephants per year has been occurring in northern Botswana since 2017 or possibly earlier.’
“Reports also state that the number of bodies in the northern part of the country rose by 593 percent between 2014 and 2018. Botswana, which boasts the highest number of elephants in Africa, had previously been a haven for the animals, with 'little poaching reported' in a 2014 survey.”
“According to reports, poachers use chainsaws to cut off the trunk and tusks of the powerful animals, leaving the rest of the body behind. The shocking pictures were captured by photographer Justin Sullivan, from Cape Town, South Africa.
“He said he was filming for a private company in Botswana and overheard rangers talking about the poached elephant. ‘They said an elephant had just been poached and I asked to be taken to the site. On arrival, I used a drone to capture the image,’ said the 28-year-old.
“‘The image is called 'Disconnection' - the perspective of the image gives context to the situation which you would never be able to see from the ground. The high angle looking top down shows isolation and highlights not only the physical disconnection of the animal, but our disconnection from the situation.
“‘The image has drawn a lot of attention. People have obviously reacted with mixed feelings of anger and sadness, especially with the recent lift on the hunting ban in Botswana, but this photo has driven some constructive dialogue around how we can promote more sustainable elephant conversation and solve our current ecological crisis.’
“…According to a report published on Thursday, between 2017 and 2018, around 400 were killed across the country. The research, carried out by Elephants Without Borders, was published in the scientific journal Current Biology alongside claims that pressure will be increased on Botswana, which last month caused international controversy when it announced that it was lifting the ban on hunting.
“The report said: ‘This evidence suggests that ivory poaching on the scale of hundreds of elephants per year has been occurring in northern Botswana since 2017 or possibly earlier.’
“Reports also state that the number of bodies in the northern part of the country rose by 593 percent between 2014 and 2018. Botswana, which boasts the highest number of elephants in Africa, had previously been a haven for the animals, with 'little poaching reported' in a 2014 survey.”
Featured Image Credit: Magnus
I was under the impression that having safaris for visitors was good for business and was keeping poachers away. The government needs to hire poachers at a higher rate than they are getting paid for poaching……(.if you can trust the poachers)! The last article I read showed hired animal rights people to protect them. Guess it’s not working. It is sickening to see how they rip apart an animal that is family oriented and mourn for members of their pact when they die!! You know animals have feelings too, right? I can’t imagine their sorrow! Now thanks to our brainless leader who has destroyed the Endangered Species Act…..now it’s open season on all these animals. Trump VALUES NOTHING but money….not people, not animals and not the planet his kids will inherit! Stupid is a stupid does!
ReplyDeleteLost, Departed, Late by Sandy Solomon
ReplyDeleteIn the Serengeti four elephants rest without heads,
bodies rising like boulders from the plain,
their slight, curling trunks uprooted beside them
as buzzards fall and, greedy, rend,
and day spreads, red, automatic, rifled.
Watch for a long time the great, gray hulls
hacked at the neck, intimate loads of muscle
and blood overflowing the ground, a rose
that shocks the drab olive-brown scrub
and ground and glistens on the moving beaks.
Oh, where are the long, bony foreheads,
thin wings of ears, mouths that seemed to smile
while chewing acacia leaves or grass,
debonair tusks jutting like stiff, white mustaches?
Where the bag men, where the keepers?
Ask the horizon, empty of gesture.
Ask the browsing chorus that always arrives in time.