August 12 - World Elephant Day

AFRICAN ELEPHANT FAMILY. PHOTO:ELEPHANTS IN THE WILD, WILDAID.ORG/ELEPHANTS

 This animal is intelligent, hardworking and strong. It is therefore unsurprising that humans make use of the elephants for all sorts of purposes: Jungle warfare, Agriculture, Tourism etc. (Ghosh, 2014). However, one of the most disturbing acts that humans have committed is that of poaching for the elephant's ivory. The diagram below depicts how severe the situation has become.
 

VIRGINIA W. MASON AND BRAD SCRIBER, NGM STAFF

SOURCES: COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY; SAVE THE ELEPHANTS; MONITORING THE ILLEGAL KILLING OF ELEPHANTS (MIKE); DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD; KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE.

Demand for ivory has seen a steady increase, especially in increasingly-affluent China and other Asian countries (BBC, 2014). This has allowed illegal markets to flourish. According to reports from wildlife organization Save the Elephants, the price for raw ivory in China is now $2,100 per kilogram, up from $750 in 2010, making it a profitable trade. If elephants are eventually hunted to extinction, the effects on ecosystems would be disastrous.

It is time policymakers step in to tackle this major issue. The first step would be to raise awareness among the public masses and exert pressure to stop illegal trading for ivory. More can be done in terms of campaigns, protests and advocacy to highlight the plight of elephants. With a fall in demand for ivories, there will be a fall in poaching, and less elephant lives will be lost.

August 12 may be World Elephant Day, but if awareness is low, regulations are not enforced and strict measures are not taken to clamp down on illegal poaching, then the declaring of this day would be pointless.

Literature Cited

BBC News. (2014) Elephant poaching deaths reach tipping point in Africa. [ONLINE] Available from: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28842965. [Accessed 19 August 2014]
Ghosh, N. (2014) Tears for elephants - their numbers are dwindling. The Straits Times [ONLINE] 17 August. Available from: http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/asia-report/trends-transitions/story/tears-elephants-their-numbers-are-dwindling-20140. [Accessed 19 August 2014]
National Geographic. (2014) 100,000 Elephants Killed by Poachers in Just Three Years, Landmark Analysis Finds . [ONLINE] Available at: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140818-elephants-africa-poaching-cites-census/. [Accessed 19 August 2014].
Save The Elephants. (2014) Save The Elephants - Protection. [ONLINE] Available at: http://savetheelephants.org/protection/. [Accessed 19 August 2014].

Nirmal Ghosh

Nirmal Ghosh

Nirmal Ghosh