UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Armed groups in central Africa are using powerful weapons, some of which may be left over from the civil war in Libya, to kill elephants for their ivory, the United Nations said yesterday.
In a report to the UN Security Council, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said elephant poaching was a growing security concern, particularly in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad and Gabon.
Ban said the illegal trade in ivory may be an important source of funding for armed groups, including warlord fugitive Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). “Also of concern is that poachers are using more and more sophisticated and powerful weapons, some of which, it is believed, might be originating from the fallout in Libya,” his report said.
