Elephant, Rhino Populations 'on the rise in Tanzania'

By BBC

The populations of elephants and rhinos in Tanzania are on the rise again following government efforts to break up criminal poaching gangs, the Tanzanian presidency said in a statement quoted by the Reuters news agency.

"As a result of the work of a special task force launched in 2016 to fight wildlife poaching, elephant populations have increased from 43,330 in 2014 to over 60,000 presently," the presidency said. The rhino population has risen from 14 four years ago to 167, Reuters adds.

February’s sentencing in Tanzania of Yang Fenglan, a Chinese woman nicknamed the "Ivory Queen", to 15 years in jail for smuggling hundreds of elephant tusks, was considered a major breakthrough. She was accused of operating one of Africa's biggest ivory-smuggling rings, responsible for smuggling $2.5m (£1.9m) worth of tusks from some 400 elephants.

Two Tanzanian men were also found guilty of involvement in the ring. The illicit trade is fuelled by demand from China and East Asia, where ivory is used to make jewellery and ornaments.