Written question asked by Mark Hunter (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 5 June 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 June 2007. It was answered by Barry Gardiner (Labour) on Monday, 11 June 2007 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Elephants: Poaching

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his assessment is of (a) the quality of the data produced by the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants system and (b) its ability to detect changes in poaching rates.

Answer: I am satisfied that the standards established for the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) system, together with the governance arrangements, including advice from the MIKE-ETIS Technical Advisory Group, ensure that the data gathered is of sufficient quality.Similarly, I am content that the data available to MIKE is fit for the purpose for which it is intended, namely:"(a) to measure levels and trends in the illegal hunting of elephants;""(b) to determine changes in these trends over time; and""(c) to determine the factors causing or associated with such changes, and to try and assess, in particular, to what extent observed trends are a result of any decisions taken by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)."

Secondary information