Stand Against Ivory Trade

&An. : Ivory is a very special material used for lots of things, but it comes at the price of hundreds of innocent elephants being killed for a small amount of material, and it’s really affecting the elephant population

Elephant populations suffered a drop in numbers that carried the species into the endangered animals list. At the beginning of the twentieth century, about ten million elephants lived in Africa. Presently, the ten million is reduced to half a million because of illegal hunting and habitat loss. Studies of the population show twenty-two thousand were killed in 2012 and twenty-five thousand in 2011. When comparing the death rate to the natural population growth, there is a possibility the largest mammal on Earth could be extinct soon (Vaughan 1). Because the elephant is the largest animal to walk on land, the greatly increasing human population affects the elephant population first. They live in some regions of the world that have the densest human population which continues to grow, which therefore continuously decreases their own population (Bryner 1). As the human population swiftly increases, the elephant population in turn, decreases. This is so because they cannot cohabitate the same living space. Elephants and humans cannot cohabitate because they would kill each other due to the inability to communicate. About population recovery, the Animal wildlife foundation states, “Populations of elephants- especially in Southern and Eastern Africa- that once showed promising signs of recovery could be at risk due to the recent surge in poaching for the illegal ivory trade”(1). Poaching presents one of the main issues that make recovery so difficult for these animals.

In the nonfiction book Ivory, Horn, and Blood by Ronald Orenstein, the author discusses his opinions on the topic of poaching elephants and rhinos. Orenstein believes that poaching is morally wrong, unnecessary, and should be stopped. He refrains from using emotional words, instead focusing on and providing startling statistics and horrifying facts.

Because of the sale of illegal ivory so many elephants' lives are put at risk. If the poaching of elephants and ever-growing trade in illegal ivory is to be seriously addressed, part of the solution to this complex problem must be a return to the full ban on the sale of ivory established in 1989 (Bloody Ivory). Between 434,000 and 684,000 African savanna elephants in 18 countries remain, down 30% in the last seven years. Once again levels of poaching and illegal trade have spiraled out of control. Rates of poaching are now the worst they have been since 1989. There are no easy answers, but a total ivory trade ban is the one strategy we know has worked (Mary Rice). Hong Kong seized 779 elephant tusks three days into 2013, over a ton of ivory,

Trump’s lift on the ban of endangered elephant trophy imports into the U.S. is just another prime example of how politics and money take precedence over precious life and the environment. Fortunately, the new policy that Trump is considering is on-hold. According to Tanya Sernerib, Center for Biological Diversity Attorney, “we are in the midst of a poaching crisis. Elephant populations across Africa are declining”, she said in an interview with WCCO CBS Minnesota in November 2017. It was reported in that same broadcast that the elephant population on the African continent declined by 30% between 2007 and 2014 based on a report released by the Great Elephant Census Organization in 2016. If the ban is not lifted, those interested in sports

Although the CITES banned the poaching of Asian and African elephants and international trade in the mid 1980’s, many organizations have been posting anti-ivory trade promotion on their website (Stiles, 309). Websites such as International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Born Free Foundation, Care for the Wild International, and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) (Stiles, 309). Many of the southern countries of Africa do not agree with the African elephant ban (Stiles, 309). They’ve been against the ban since around the mid-1980’s (Stiles, 309). People from the southern countries of Africa have been arguing because they don’t believe they should be penalized because other countries don’t know how to handle their wildlife (Stiles, 309). The CITES Conference of Parties voted in favor of Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe to

To many people today animals are seen as nothing more than a mere source of profit. Every year thousands of whales are brutally captured and separated from their families. In these scenarios hook, electric rod, and other blunt instruments are used leaving an ocean filled with whales to a sea filled with blood and sorrow. It seems obvious that these animals do not have rights because they are constantly being abused and mistreated. With time over the course of history, animal abuse has flourished into something that many activist are unable to stop. Till today many corporation like Sea World are covering up their crime and destruction. They are conscious of their damaged actions but continue to do so because what is more important to them is

Recently, the poaching controversy has gained more attention in the news and media due to the killing of Cecil the Lion back in 2015. But what exactly is poaching and why is it illegal? Poaching can be defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals. Animals are captured and killed for their parts and products that are eventually sold on the black market and to cartels to make medicines, trinkets, and other products. Animals are typically poached for personal gain and value.The the illegal poaching trade in Africa alone has accumulated a worth of $17 billion dollars a year and it keeps growing. Ivory, fur, skin, and bones especially are in high demand and places/people are willing to pay high numbers for these products, so it is no surprise that people continue to hunt them. Due to poaching, the tiger is one of the most endangered species in the world . Tiger parts, such as fur, skin, and bones, are seen as a luxury and are used as commerce on the black market and secretly throughout Asia. Although China has participated in the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, the laws are commonly ignored and it remains the primary destination for tiger parts. Elephants are also on the brink of extinction and the number hunted per year keeps increasing. Despite international ivory trade being banned in the 1990s, it is still sold on the black market and sought after in Asia; once again, China being the biggest demander. According to Kideghesho in Sage Journals , “widespread poaching coupled with inefficient law enforcement in Tanzania was manifested in the dramatic decline of the elephant population to less than 30% of what it was in 1979, a drop from 316,000 to 85,000 by 1987.” Rhinos are also greatly sought after in Africa. In

US$50,000 for a kilogram of the stuff, roughly the same as the price of gold.

Thesis Statement: My purpose today is to inform you on the illegal poaching on elephants and the ivory trade.

Animal poaching has a bigger price tag than the trophy sitting on the shelf. Poaching is causing iconic animals of many continents and of our oceans to become endangered or even extinct. These animals that people have come to love and fantasize over may be gone before we are (Africa). Elephants, rhinos, lions, and zebras are the animals thought of the most when it comes to animal poaching, but many animals are poached. They are killed for only one quality, like their horns or skins and the rest of the animal is left behind. Poaching is a massive business that is ran by international networks, it’s estimated to make hundreds of millions of dollars (World). Not all wildlife trade is illegal, but it becomes a crisis when an increasing amount of illegal poaching is done and it directly threatens the survival of species in the wild (World). Since 1960 97.6% of the Black Rhino population in Africa has been poached and lions are extinct in seven African countries (Africa).

It’s a whole different kind of beast. The illegal wildlife trade is the third largest black market industry in the United States (Ebrahim and Solomon). In other words, the animal trade is a financial supergiant large enough to be listed on the NASDAQ, and if it were to collapse and/or disappear it would devastate the criminal underground. In the United States the illegal wildlife trade trails behind the drug trade and weapons trade as the third largest illegal industry. Although only the third largest in the United States, experts speculate the illegal wildlife trade could possibly be the most profitable illegal industry in the world. Profit margins seen by the illegal wildlife trade exceed those seen in the underground weapons and drug trades (Ebrahim and

The ivory trade situation has struggled throughout the past 28 years, meaning that the ivory poaching is still a problem, and elephant danger has increased. By 1989, Africa was basically a graveyard for elephants. In the past decade, over half of the 1.3 million elephants that had been living in Africa had been killed. As a result, CITES approved a worldwide ban on ivory trade. Since 1997, there have been sustained attempts by certain countries to weaken the ban. Large examples occur in 1999, 2002, 2008, and 2011, where the ban was bent. In fact, no attempts to help elephants have worked up to their potential, except for the 1989 ban. In conclusion, the best (and easiest) possible solution would be to make a total ivory ban, one like the

There are organizations around the globe designed to stop elephant poaching. Their intent is to sway people’s opinions to help with the world-wide problem. Only a global ban on the sale of ivory would take the heat off of these massive creatures. Solutions might include, addressing the involvement of international criminal institutes by means of strong law enforcement at both national and international levels along the full extent of the supply. Closing down domestic (national) markets in ivory, would also be beneficial. Countries could embrace the trade ban, and educate consumers in order to stem the demand for ivory (Bloody Ivory; January 11, 2013).

Back in 2014, Corey Knowlton was the target of countless death threats and criticism. The cause for all of it was his accidental purchase of a hunting permit. He had paid $350,000 at an auction for a hunting trip to Namibia to kill an endangered species which caused a lot of backlash. The endangered species was the black rhino. Most people seen this as a harmful move for the black rhino species but what most people fail to realize is that it is in fact an effort to help improve and preserve the conservations of these animals.