Billionaire Microsoft Cofounder To Fund Elephant Survey

Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen who started the company along with Bill Gates has made a large donation that will be used to fund a survey of elephant numbers in Africa that is designed to combat the increase in poaching that is resulting in the killing of an elephant every 15 minutes.

Mr. Allen is worth US$15.7 billion and will spend $8 million of his fortune on counting the number of elephants in 13 countries. The survey will make use of three fixed wing aircraft as well as two helicopters according to the charity Elephants Without Borders.

Mr. Allen in a statement said it was a dark time for the elephant with statistics revealing a grim plight for elephants in Africa.

Nearly 20 per cent of all the elephants in Africa could be wiped out over the next 10 years if poaching continues at its current levels. Nearly 22,000 elephants were killed last year according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Elephants are prized for their ivory tusks.

Currently it the population of African elephants is estimated between 410,000 to 650,000 according to Elephants Without Borders, though there has not been a full survey across all countries for many years. Elephants can be found in 35 African states which is down from the original 46. In 20 countries there are less than 1000 elephants with most of the elephant population found in Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Image Credit: Elephants on the run by nilsrinaldi, on Flickr