final research paper on ivory trade & elephants

Leticia Rivera

English 21003

Prof Matyakubova

Dec 8th, 2016

Abstract

            A dramatic decrease of elephant creates concern, as the Ivory trade continues to rave in Africa. Since the ivory trade threatens the future of African elephants, it is important to indicate why elephants need to be saved, who should save them and how to they can be saved.

Elephants need to be saved is because they are important to the African savannah and play a distinct role in the survival of other animals. Additionally, the rate of elephant population growth is gradual and will require decades of recovery from poaching, which is why they need to be saved. Saving elephants have become a major task for some wildlife organizations around the world. Spreading the word about the dangers elephants face can assist in demand reduction of ivory throughout the world.

Poaching Gone Wrong:

The impact of the Ivory Trade and the Pursuit to Save Elephants

Every child in the process of learning the names of animals is always taught to learn the word elephant. What if one day books, and parents no longer teach children the animal elephant, because they are extinct. On average, an elephant is killed every 15 minutes (Nast). Elephants are traditionally recognized to come from Africa and Asia. In the wild, an elephant can live between 50 - 70 years. The word “elephant” can be traced back to ancient times, and the meaning of the word is ivory. They enjoy swimming, and also drink a great deal of water. In fact, an elephant can drink almost 15 quarts (14 liters) at one time. Their diet consists of eating an assortment of plants. They search for food nearly 16 hours each day, and can eat between 300 - 600 pounds of food each day. Their tusk can grow to an impressive length of 10 feet, and weigh nearly 200 pounds (Davidson 30). In 1800, around 26 million elephants are estimates too have roamed Africa (Larson). The ivory trade has put African elephant populations at risk.

In the early 1900’s shooting an elephant in the safari was the height of manliness for the wealthy westerners. Mass productions of combs, brush handles, pool balls and piano keys was fueling in ivory frenzy. By 1913, the United States was consuming 200 tons of ivory per year and African elephants have dropped to an estimated 10 million. World appetite for ivory continue to decimate elephant herds until by 1979 only 1.3 million were left. Even as many westerners realized the consequence of the trade, Asian demand picked up. By 1989, elephants numbered only six hundred thousand. A worldwide ban on ivory sales in 1989 led to a rebound in the population, to about a million. But in 1999 and 2008, due to pressure from countries in Asia and southern Africa, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) allowed two sanctioned sales of ivory (Larson). In spite of the international trade ban, illegal trade continues. Elephant poaching is a significant problem in many parts of Africa. Since the

ivory trade threatens the future of African elephants, it is important to indicate why elephants need to be saved, who should save them and how to they can be saved.

An initial reason why elephants need to be saved is because they are important to the African savannah and play a distinct role in the growth of grasses, and trees. There are some parts of the savannah that receive little to no rain per year, whereas there are other parts of the savannah that receives high levels of rain. As Rudi J Van Aarde states in a booklet Elephant Facts and Fables, elephants “often dominate the herbivore guild in savannahs and consequently play a major role in modifying the structure and function of these landscapes. Their feeding on trees alters canopy shape as well as the survival of saplings [(a young tree)] and adult trees, thereby ensuring micro-scale environmental conditions that allow grasses and trees to co-exist. These changes and the absence of elephants may favour bush encroachment. This may disadvantage herbivores that feed on sun-loving grasses and sedges”. Since elephants are involved in the continued pathways of food for other herbivores other than themselves, they play an important part of savannahs.

            In addition to contributing to the food source for other animals, these mammals also play a role in obtaining water during a rough time of the year in the savannah. The dry season in the savannah can last from three to nine months. Therefore, during the dry season, elephants use their tusks to dig for water. This not only allows the elephants to survive in dry environments and when droughts strike, but also provides water for other animals that share harsh habitats (Save the Elephants). No matter the size of any animal, food and water is a substantial possession for survival. Elephants provide the opportunity for smaller animals and plants to survive.

            Additionally, the rate of elephant population growth is gradual and will require decades of recovery from poaching, which is why they need to be saved. During a study on elephant birth rates, Andrea K. Turkalo, Peter H. Wrege, and George Wittemyer gathered relevant results such as the following:

Using 23 years of individually based demographic data from Dzanga, Central African Republic, we found low reproductive potential resulting from annual birth rates averaging 4·3% (SD: 1·4%), a median inter-birth interval of 68 months and a median primiparous age of 23 years. Average mortality was 3·1% per year (SD: 1·0%) during the study, with approximately 1·4% of that attributed to human killing (1).

This study manifests the failing of population growth of elephants as a result of the ivory trade. A female elephant has a gestation period of nearly two years and are ready to breed when they are about 14 - 15 years of age. These mammals are large in size, which in relation to the development of the baby elephant, the growth requires a lot of time. Under ideal conditions, a female elephant can produce an average of 12 calves over an ideal lifetime of 60 years, but not all calves survive to reproduce (Van Aarde 23). The findings in connection to the population growth of elephants highlights the need to stop the ivory trade and demand protective action.

            Alongside the previous reasons to save elephants from the ivory trade, elephants are brutally killed for their ivory, and their population has decreased drastically. Prior to European colonization, scientists believe that Africa may have held as many as 20 million elephants; by 1979 only 1.3 million remained (Mckenzie and Formanek).  An elephant ecologist, Mike Chase is the founder of Elephants Without Borders (EWB), and the lead scientist of the Great Elephant

Census (GEC), which is a task to count the population of elephants in the entire African continent. He concluded (see table 1) that in the current year of 2016, there are 352,000 elephants in the African Savannah. Based on his research, he projects that there would be a future population of 160,000 elephants in the year 2025.

Cable News Network (CNN) journalists David Mckenzie and Ingrid Formanek reports drastic details in the words of Mike Chase, of a horrific moment while visiting the Linyanti Swamp in Botswana. Chase openly describes his thoughts on dead elephants while scoping lands where elephants live. He claims “I don't think anybody in the world has seen the number of dead elephants that I've seen over the last two years […] we spot an elephant lying on its side in the cracked river mud. But the acrid stench of death hits us before we even land. Up close, it is a horror” (Mckenzie & Formenek) Chase’s words clarifies that there are no myths on how elephants look after a poaching attack. The view can be devastating, and can negatively affect people who are fond of animals such as himself.

Image 1 is from Cable News Network (CNN), which illustrates Mike Chase, an elephant ecologist overlooking a dead elephant laid to it’s side with the face hacked off. The background of the image shows a wildlife setting, and the discovery of the dead mammal was during the day, which allowed an easy distinction from this mammal being dead or sleeping. This image illustrates the explicit reality of what African elephants experience.

Government officials usually predominate and may enforce by the imposition of penalties, in order to save elephants from the ivory trade. Benard starr, a psychologist, college professor and a journalist, discusses in an article, on the involvement of governments in the destruction of ivory.

Governments are increasingly embracing this approach. In 2012 a Philadelphia dealer in African art was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $150,000 for smuggling in more than a ton of African ivory. In a get-tough initiative in 2013, China handed out three to fifteen-year prison sentences to at least twenty individuals involved in the illegal ivory market. In 2014, a Chinese antiques dealer was given a seventy-month prison sentence for smuggling rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory artifacts into China from the U.S. In its boldest action China sentenced 37 ivory smugglers to life terms.

In order for any drastic changes to occur in stopping ivory trade, the government in Africa and as well as any other country involved should be essentially included. To protect elephants, a New York State bill signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo on World Elephant day, August 12, 2014, bans the sale of ivory with few exceptions. Stringent proof will be required for allowing the sale of ivory that is one hundred years old or older (Starr). On July 6, 2016, a near-total ban on commercial trade in African elephant ivory went into effect in the United States. The information on the webpage is intended to provide guidance for those who wish to buy, sell, or otherwise trade in elephant ivory (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - International Affairs). The United States comprehends the dilemma in elephant population and the disturbing behavior of ivory poachers. Therefore, government officials should continue to propel a change for the elephant’s future and fight against extinction.

Saving elephants have become a major task for some wildlife organizations around the world. International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is a good example of where to go if someone is interested in the action of conserving elephants. IFAW declares in a booklet of facts on elephants, “IFAW […] works to improve the welfare of wild and domestic animals throughout the world by reducing commercial exploitation of animals, protecting wildlife habitats, and assisting animals in distress. IFAW seeks to motivate the public to prevent cruelty to animals and to promote animal welfare and conservation policies that advance the wellbeing of [...] animals [...]” (Van Aarde 5). Wildlife conservation organizations work to stop the illegal poaching and trade of elephant ivory, protect wild elephant habitat and build natural sanctuaries for elephants to live freely. Supporting actively committed conservation efforts will have a positive impact on elephant preservation.

Leonardo DiCaprio is known as an American actor, film producer, and is the founder of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.  In 1998, he established his foundation to work on the most pressing environmental issues. This foundation works closely with conservation groups such as Save the Elephants and the Wildlife Conservation Network. The collaboration is to address the elephant ivory crisis by directing to anti-poaching, anti-trafficking and demand reduction.

Spreading the word about the dangers elephants face can assist in demand reduction of ivory throughout the world. In order to reduce demand for wildlife parts and products, which fuels illegal poaching and trafficking activities, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) conducts behavior change communication campaigns in countries that consume ivory. Through public outreach, IFAW educates consumers about the cruelty, conservation impact and illegality of wildlife trade. IFAW conducted a study in 2011 of an ivory demand reduction campaign in China, and resulted in effective reduction in purchases of ivory (International Fund for Animal Welfare). The beginning step in demand reduction as a consumer is to not buy ivory or other wildlife products. Be an elephant aware consumer.

On the contrary, the ivory market is thriving, regardless of the ban that prohibits the sale of ivory from elephants killed after 1989. The low – to middle – income young people in the United States and Asian countries see ivory jewelry and carvings as a status symbol (Morell). This demand is the reason why poachers are killing thousands of elephants a year, at an unsustainable rate. According to International Fund for Animal Welfare, An IFAW survey in China found that 70% of Chinese don’t know ivory comes from dead elephants. Many consumer of wildlife products are unaware of the cruelty actions of the ivory trade. When economic prosperity is high and people have little understanding of biodiversity, ivory markets flourish, therefore, demand reduction and educating consumers are important.

Although the ivory trade has been occurring for decades, it now threatens the future of African elephants, it is important to indicate why elephants need to be saved, who should save them and how to they can be saved. An important consideration for the future of elephants is to educate the young population about the consequences of poaching. The young population are the key to a better future for animals.

Works Cited

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