Ksh.3 million worth of ivory nabbed in Eldoret

Police in Eldoret on Tuesday nabbed 30kgs of ivory, with an estimated value of Ksh 3 million in Eastleigh estate.

Confirming the incident, Eldoret West police boss Samwel Mutunga said police made the bust after they received a tip off from members of the public.

Three suspects were caught in the exercise, with the police boss adding that they will be arraigned in court Wednesday.

The source of the ivory is yet to be established; officers are still investigating the incident.

Despite numerous conservation campaigns, ivory trade – which is illegal in Kenya – continues to thrive, further reducing Kenya’s already thinning elephant and rhino population.

In 2016, President Uhuru Kenyatta made international headlines when he torched 100 tonnes of ivory and 1.35 tonnes of rhino horn to protest the sale of ivory.

“Kenya is making a statement that for us ivory is worthless unless it is on our elephants,” he told dignitaries before setting light to the first of almost a dozen pyres.

Uhuru called for a total ban on ivory trade to end trafficking and prevent the extinction of elephants in the wild.

From 2009 to 2012 about 100,000 elephants were killed, the equivalent of more than 33,000 a year.

In the 1970s, Africa had about 1.2 million elephants, but now has 400,000 to 450,000.

The situation for rhinos is more precarious. There are fewer than 30,000 left across Africa and one species, the Northern White Rhino, is on the brink of extinction.