Conservationists ask Tanzania to ban sport hunting of elephants

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Conservationists petitioned Tanzania on Monday to end elephant trophy hunting in a vast wildlife reserve area that spans its common border with Kenya.

About 2,000 elephants, including the "super-tuskers," so called because of their large tusks, roam the wildlife conservation range known as Amboseli National Park on the Kenyan side and Enduimet Wildlife Management Area on the Tanzania side.

Unlike Kenya where trophy hunting is illegal, Tanzania allows sport hunting of elephants for prized tusks and issues permits for the activity. That has resulted in instances where hunters killed Kenyan elephants from across the border.

"The loss of these elephants is not just a blow to elephant populations but to our collective efforts in conservation," Cynthia Moss, founder of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, said.

The petition by more than 50 Africa wildlife conservation organisations, was also backed by 500,000 signatures.

Only 10 super-tuskers with tusks weighing around 45 kg each remain in the Amboseli ecosystem, which has the highest density of these animals, according to conservationists.

"Hunting could cause the super-tuskers to disappear within the next three years," according to the petition.

In 1995, both the East African neighbours had agreed that Tanzania would stop issuing hunting permits on its side of the reserve after hunters killed Kenyan elephants on the Tanzanian side.

However, in 2022 Tanzania started issuing permits again, the petition said.

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)