Gabon gets anti-poaching helicopter from South African group

JOHANNESBURG – A South African foundation is providing a helicopter and other anti-poaching equipment to Gabon, whose forest elephants have been heavily targeted by traffickers.

The Ichikowitz Family Foundation said Thursday that it will also provide ranger training and establish a dog-training academy program in Gabon. The announcement was made during a Johannesburg meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.

In a statement, the foundation and Gabon’s national parks agency praise Gabon’s president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, for efforts to protect the Congo basin rainforest.

The foundation’s founder, Ivor Ichikowitz, heads the Paramount Group, a company that previously provided defence equipment to Gabon.

Bongo was sworn in Tuesday for a second seven-year term after winning a narrow victory in a disputed election.