IVORY SCANDAL: HUNDREDS OF ELEPHANT TUSKS SHIPPED FROM ZAMBIA SEIZED IN THAILAND
By Ubuntu Integrity Media Zambia
A major wildlife trafficking case has emerged after Thai authorities seized hundreds of African elephant tusks concealed inside timber logs shipped from Zambia.
The Thai Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) announced on October 7, 2026, that approximately 400 to 446 elephant tusks had been discovered hidden inside hollow timber logs packed in two shipping containers.
The containers were reportedly declared as carrying processed timber, with the shipment weighing approximately 56,000 kilograms.
The discovery raises serious questions about the movement of ivory through international shipping networks and the effectiveness of measures intended to prevent illegal wildlife trafficking.
HOW WAS THE IVORY CONCEALED?
According to the reported details, the tusks were hidden inside hollow timber logs, reportedly identified as Mukwa, in an apparent attempt to disguise the shipment’s true contents.
The seizure highlights the methods traffickers may use to conceal wildlife products within legitimate commercial cargo.
QUESTIONS FOR ZAMBIA
The reported seizure raises important questions about the shipment’s origin, the parties involved, the export documentation and whether the ivory was obtained illegally.
However, the seizure alone does not establish who was responsible or whether the shipment originated from elephants poached in Zambia. Those questions require evidence from the relevant investigations.
Zambia is home to important wildlife resources, and any confirmed involvement of individuals or companies in illegal ivory trafficking would raise serious concerns about wildlife protection, border controls and enforcement of the law.
Authorities in Zambia and Thailand should establish the shipment’s provenance, identify those responsible and clarify whether any laws were breached.
Ubuntu Integrity Media Zambia
Reporting on issues that matter.
#Zambia #ElephantIvory #WildlifeTrafficking #Thailand #WildlifeConservation #UbuntuIntegrityMediaZambia
How do “they” know they are from Zambia?
1. There has been an elephant problem in Bostwana Chobe Game paek area. Where Elephants have been killed to reduce the elephant population. Where have the tusks beem taken?
2. There has been a poacher problem in RSA/Zimbabwe where elephants have been the topical discussion.
3. Does Zambia have such an elephant population that would mean at 200 or so have been killed to make up the number of tusks? How to these people know that these elephants were from Zambia? No DNA ctiation to link them to those in Zambia. Just a manifest of timber to say the timber was from Zambia. The same people that were recieving illegal timber deals from the “kume-kume” of Zambia cited in the News diggers article who then sued for slander; with one witdrawing the matter and the rest losing the case.
One doesnt need to be a genius. Can you send our man who worked on the Malanji matter to dig deeper and get the story straight as alluded. The number of elephants dont make sense. 200 is a pretty big number and this raises a red flag on the number of possibilities.