Tanzania official says lifting ivory ban would help elephant population

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Lazaro Nyalandu, Tanzania’s minister of natural resources and tourism, and several other officials met with representatives from the Dallas Safari Club and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Thursday morning. They talked about the African nation’s efforts to curb poaching and exchanged ideas about how to stop the illegal activity.

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Nyalandu was in the U.S. this week as part of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington. He said he hoped to persuade U.S. officials to lift their ban on ivory imports made earlier this year in hopes of stemming poaching. Nyalandu said removal of the ban would expand regulated hunting in the country, which in turn would help fund efforts to stop poachers.
“That ban benefits the poachers,” he said. “It only assures that more elephants will get killed.”

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