§ SIR HARRY SETON-KARR (St. Helens)To ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the provisions of the International Conference held in London in May 1899, for the preservation of big game in Africa, are now being carried out in all parts of Africa under the control of the Colonial Office, and particularly if the prohibition of the export of elephant tusks under 11 lbs. in weight is being strictly enforced, and by what means; also whether, having regard to the regulation that licencees must make a Return of game killed, these Returns from the date the regulation came into force can be collected from all territorities in Africa under the control of the Colonial Office and presented to Parliament; and whether he can state in what game reserves in Africa officials 1056 and natives are allowed to kill game, and to what extent and under what conditions; also to what extent and at what cost the sanctity of the game reserves in Africa is enforced by game wardens, police or otherwise.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Chamberlain.) The parts of Africa under the control of the Colonial Office which come within the zone defined by Article 1 of the Convention for the Preservation of Wild Animals, Birds, and Fish in Africa, of the 19th May 1900, are the British Colonies and Protectorates in West Africa and North Western Rhodesia. Regulations for the preservation of wild animals have been brought into force in the colony and protectorate of Sierra Leone, in the colonies of the Gold Coast and Ashanti, in the northern territories of the Gold Coast, and in the protectorates of Southern and Northern Nigeria. In the other West African colonies or protectorates regulations are in preparation, and will be brought into force very shortly. In Southern Nigeria, by Order 8 of 1901, made under Proclamation No. 8 of 1901, the killing of young elephants, and the possession and sale of any tusk weighing less than 10 lbs. is prohibited under a penalty not exceeding £50 fine or a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months with or without hard labour; and in Northern Nigeria the Proclamation No. 15 of 1901 contains a provision to the same effect. The regulations which are in force at the present time in the other colonies and protectorates mentioned above contain no provisions for the prohibition or regulation of the export of elephant tusks under 10 lbs. (the weight specified by the Convention) in weight. No game reserves have been formed in any part of British West Africa; and Northern Nigeria, Ashanti, and the northern territories of the Gold Coast are at present the only places where any regulations exist with reference to licencees making a Return of the game killed by them. No Returns have yet been received in the Colonial Office, but the Governor of the Gold Coast and the High Commissioner of Northern Nigeria will be asked to furnish them. With regard to North Western Rhodesia no proclamation appears as yet to have been issued, but I am communicating with Lord Milner on the subject.