The announced decision to lift the prohibition caused a lifting of shields on the Internet, many Tanzanians calling for its revision.
Le Monde with AFP
Tanzania returned to its controversial decision on Sunday, June 5, to lift the ban on exporting wild animals, which had triggered indignation in this country in East Africa. The ban was implemented in 2016 to safeguard species of animals and protected birds of the country which were illegally shipped – living – abroad, according to the government.
Saturday, the services responsible for the protection of fauna had announced a lifting of the ban for an initial period of six months, from June 6 to December 5, so that traders can “sell animal stocks” whose export was blocked under the prohibition.
But Sunday, the Minister of Tourism Pindi Chana restored the ban, adding that new consultations were underway. “There was an announcement which authorized the export of wild animals but, as a responsible minister, I immediately stopped this,” she said. There will be no export of living animals As long as we continue the consultations and until the government decides otherwise. “
The decision to lift the ban caused an outcry on the Internet, many Tanzanians calling for his revision. “They say that the Masai are destructive, hence their forced expulsion of the Ngorongoro! If you want my opinion, they want the Masai to leave the conservation zones to be able to capture/export as they please, without pissing eyes”, wrote A surfer on Twitter.
Expulsion of the Ngorongoro Masai
Tanzania authorizes indigenous communities, such as the Masai, to live in certain national parks but, in recent years, the relationships between breeders and wild fauna have become more and more conflicting. Faced with the rise of the population and their herds, the government plans to expel them from the Ngorongoro nature reserve.
The WWF nature protection NGO warned on Saturday that a relaxation of the ban was likely to undermine the progress made in terms of flora and fauna protection, notably by encouraging poaching. Known for its national parks rich in wild fauna, Tanzania attracts tourists for its safaris and white sandy beaches to the Zanzibar archipelago.
In 2010, local media had revealed that at least 116 animals and 16 birds, some of which were protected, had been illegally exported from Kilimandjaro Airport (north of the country), aboard a Qatari plane. Among them were at least four giraffes, several types of antelopes, calaos and vultures.