October

12, 2016

Park Takes Major Strides in Eliminating Ivory Trade

With tagging system, the Virunga National Park is one step closer to
eliminating poaching for ivory trade
Democratic Republic of the Congo- The Virunga National Park has brought in a new
system to tag elephants, and with it a new team to protect them.
Elephants are being poached for their ivory tusks and left for dead. The new
system the park is adopting and putting into effect next month will tag the elephants tusks
pink so the ivory will be of no value to the poachers. This pink dye is chalk-based so it
will not harm the elephants, just make the ivory undesirable to those who want to sell it.
The park has also hired a special team of rangers who are trained in combat and
tracking. Since the park is so big, it is sometimes more than a days walk to get to where
the elephants are, and this team will be able to track them quicker and more effectively.
The purpose of bringing in this new team is to let the poachers know that we mean
business. We will not tolerate anyone coming into this park and harming these animals
said head ranger at the park, Emmanuel Marie. The poachers are also armed, and this new
team of rangers will be able to protect the park and its people from the violence brought
about by these men.
This new system will go into effect at the end of the month and will be enforced
until further notice. The elephant population is slowly declining in the park and hopefully

-morewith this new system we will be able to turn that around and increase the number of
elephants in the park. Here at Virunga National Park it is our mission to preserve the
wildlife and protect our people and their resouces.

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