Another look at poaching; elephants in trouble.

About the African elephant
The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) are found across the continent of Africa, are the largest land dwelling species at up to 13ft high and can live up to seventy years. Females form herds consisting of related individuals and their young; these groups are led by the oldest female known as the matriarch who uses the knowledge she has collected with age and from previous matriarchs, to lead her family to water and food sources. Male elephants often leave the family group as they begin to mature, leading a solitary life often only seeking out females during musth. The large ears of the African elephant help with regulating heat levels and are often spread during threat displays to try to make them look bigger. Both sexes of this species grow tusks which are used for digging up tubers and other food sources as well as fighting in the males, unfortunately it is these tusks which are putting these incredible animals at risk.

Ivory poaching and conservation
It is well known that species such as elephants are targeted by poachers for their tusks which consist of ivory, a product that brings a high profit price in eastern countries and the constant battle by conservationists to prevent it however, a problem arises on how to fund conservation projects and what may not be known by the general society, is that most of the funds come from legally sourced stockpiled ivory. These stockpiles are taken from elephants that have died natural deaths or from herd management schemes and are kept by various African governments, to be sold to eastern markets that deal in legally sourced ivory though, it is worth noting that some governments have burnt their stockpiles due to increased pressure by confused parties as to where the legal ivory is taken from.

 
Corruption within legal ivory trading
A problem has recently been revealed within the legal ivory trade in which park staff, custom officials and government officials have been corrupted and allowed poached ivory to be traded as legal ivory. A study in 2010 which investigated how well Africa's parks protected its wildlife, revealed that in countries where corruption occurred i.e.paying of police to turn a blind eye to poaching, all species of animal were in decline.

How to tackle the problem
The main focus needs to be on preventing corruption by making it a more prominent issue in conservation planning, this means changing how conservationists view the issue and therefore how they approach it. For example just enforcing new policies such as strict penalties and throwing more money into the schemes because this only seems to play into the hands of corrupt systems i.e. further encouraging redirection of money flow or, burning of stockpiled legal ivory in case it may contain illegal items which will only cause the value of ivory to increase, increasing the likelihood of poaching. Conservationists need to better understand the reasons behind why corruption occurs and turn to other countries that have been successful in dealing with scenarios such as this and then they will be ready to address this issue effectively.
To read the original article click here.

My Views
I chose this article due to its similarities to a book that I just finished reading called animals on the edge by Chris Weston which highlights the many animals across the globe that face extinction. It also features some very interesting case files which give a opportunity for the people who are loggers, poachers etc, to explain just why they do what they do. One that particularly stood out to me was an account taken from a man who was caught poaching in a park in India, I will not lie and say that upon beginning to read this case I was a bit biased towards his views but by the end I was very much enlightened, here is a brief overview of his story; he came from a poverty stricken area, with no money to feed his family. He awoke one day to find that his youngest son had died overnight from disease which caused him to hit rock bottom, it was at this point that he wanted better for himself and his family and no longer wanted to experience the loss of his children. It was with this mind that he sought out a man that he was told could bring you and your family great wealth and take him away from this life. It did not take him long to find the man responsible, he was well dressed and filled the man's head with glamorous tales of a better life, he also told the man that the money came from poaching and convinced him that they were not endangered and that if he was caught he would not get into trouble and he would help him out. Of course the man was taken in by this and was soon caught trying to poach animals within a state park and is now facing 40 years in jail which due to the conditions he may not even survive, he is just 23!
Some of you may still think he got what he deserved but the truth is that many of these people including the man just mentioned, do not want to kill animals or destroy acres of forest, they do it to survive often because corrupt countries have taken away their livelihoods and often sustainable methods of living to replace them with unsustainable money earners such as logging, providing these people with their only chance at a source of income. Therefore I agree with what the article is saying, that we need to change how we approach conservation and adapt a method that benefits not just the wildlife but the people who live alongside them. Only when these people can be provided with a secure source of income other then poaching/logging via projects such as ecotourism which has proved to be a success in many areas, can we truly start to preserve species and the habitats they live in.

As always feel free to add your thoughts or comments in the box below and thanks for reading :)
If you would like a copy of animals on edge, you can purchase it by clicking here.