2010-03-14 Amboseli N.P.

Regretfully it is my last day in Amboseli, as guests are waiting for me in Mara on Wednesday. I say momentarily goodbye to the Elephants, but I recommend everyone to visit and support the Amboseli Elephant Research Project ( www.elephanttrust.org ), the longest study and advocacy project on Elephants in the wild. The CITES (Convention on Internationl Trade of Endangered Species) is meeting these days in Doha to discuss the ban on ivory trade. Some countries (Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa) are still pushing for the re-opening of the trade, while others, including Kenya, are against it. I am against the trade, as it invariably generates poaching which is already on the increase again thanks to the ever growing Chinese presence in East Africa.