Environmental Biology and Conservation - Essay Example

?Introduction African Elephants are some of the most endangered animals in the world today. In the past three decades, the population of the animals has been declining drastically and in some regions, the animals have become extinct. These animals are major targets for poachers who kill them for their ivory, skins and meat. The elephants are particularly killed for their valuable ivory that is used in the manufacture of traditional medicine especially in China and Taiwan and making of game trophies and ornaments. In this respect, the conservation of the animals especially in the African continent has become one of top priorities in order to safeguard their crucial role they play in the ecosystem. Destroying local elephant habitats to create room for human settlement is an important local issue in Africa that has resulted to deaths of the African elephant. This paper examines the impact of killing the African elephant one of the threatened species, with special focus on its role in the ecosystem and the conservation measures put in place to ensure its survival. Population trends of African elephant and its major habitats The population of the African elephant has dropped sharply from about 1.3 million animals in the 1970s to about 450,000 animals today (Chris, 1999). The population of these animals has reduced drastically in their main habitats across the African continent presenting serious ecological challenges in the affected region. In view of the declining numbers, some African countries have established conservancies such as game reserves, game parks and national parks in addition to lobbying for international ban on ivory. According to Chris (1999), the African elephant, Loxodanta africana inhabited virtually all parts of the continent for many centuries. Currently, the animals are mostly concentrated on the southern Saharan desert, and their numbers are scattered and disjointed in the region. The habitats of elephants in the sub-Saharan Africa are divided into four main zones that include central, southern, western and eastern Africa (Anderson and Coe 1974). These regions have varying human population that plays a critical role in determining the destruction of the habits and the subsequent animal population. Human population in the central Africa is quite sparse and this region has one of the largest forest cover on the continent. The forests form an important habitat of the forest elephant, the Loxodonta African cyclotis subspecies (White and Child 1988). Due to the dense forests, low human population and limited destruction of the habitats, central Africa is home to about 45% of the total African elephant population (Chris, 1999). Western Africa is one of the regions in the continent that has the highest human population. Consequently, the elephant habits have largely been interfered with, causing drastic reduction in the animal population. According to Chris (1999), elephant population in the region is restricted in the fragmented habitats raging from the savannah and the remaining forested areas. According to Chris (1999), western Africa comprises of just about 2% on the entire population of the African elephant. The countries with the highest numbers of elephants in western Africa include Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast (Chris, 1999). The eastern Africa is another important habitat for the elephant population. Geographically, the region comprises of highlands endowed with rich volcanic soils. Consequently, the dense human population engaged in crop farming in the fertile highlands has destroyed habitats for the African elephant. From early 1970, to 1980, the region experienced high level of elephant poaching and the high population decimated the elephants further (Bengis, 1996). Chris (1999) estimated that the region accounts to about 20% of the total elephant population in the continent. Tanzania is one of the few countries with high elephant population but Kenya is recording an increasing in numbers after enforcing stringent conservation measures (Bengis, 1996). In southern Africa region, the human population density remains relatively low and the region has expansive savannah grasslands. The grasslands are important habitats for the Loxodonta africana africana, an elephant subspecies that lives in the savannah and the African bushes (Chris, 1999). According to Bengis (1996), southern Africa accounts to about 33% of the remaining African elephants in the continent. Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa are some of the countries in the region with significant elephant population. A research conducted by WWF (2010) established that African elephant habitat is predominant in the vegetation of the tropical forest in central Africa and the Miombo woodlands in the southern Africa. The Miombo woodland, that extends from southern Africa to the eastern Africa account to about 26% of the total elephant population in the continent followed closely by the tropical rainforests with 22%. Of these two important elephant habitat, only 24% of the total is protected, exposing the animals to potential poaching and human encroachment (WWF, 2010). Economic and cultural importance of African elephant The African elephants have various economic, cultural, and aesthetic values in the continent and the globe at large. The ivory for long period has been used for making ornaments because it has smooth texture, attractive colorations and even grains that make it easy to work on. For many centuries, ivory was applied in making sculptures, carvings, jewels and other ornaments in the classical world and medieval times in various parts of the world (WWF, 2011). The demand for ivory in the Europe and Asia has been increasing in the last two decades. Chris (1999) estimated that ivory obtained from African elephant generated over $500 million for a period of ten years from 1979 to 1989. However, much of the revenue went to illegal traders, because ivory trade is mainly conducted in the black market. Elephant meat is an important source of food in the African continent, leading to declining population of the animal in the continent. According to Chris (1999), elephant meat is popular in the central and western parts of African continent and is one of the major reasons for slaughtering the species. Elephants form an important source of game meat in South Africa where it is processed canned and served in restaurants. Besides meat and ivory, elephant skins provide an important economic value. The skins are used to make handbags, cowboy boots golf bags, luggage bags and briefcases among others applications. In spite of the international ban on the elephant products, elephant skins from Africa continue being sold in the black market. In the 1980s for instance, Zimbabwe exported about 300 tons of elephant skins valued at about $3 million (Chris, 1999). Sport hunting is another economic importance of African elephants that has regrettably resulted into a drastic decline of the species in the continent. Sport hunting is relatively a recent development popular in the Tanzania, Cameroon, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana. Hunting elephants is one of the most important sources of revenue in these African countries and forms a crucial component of the tourism industry in Africa because of the exorbitant trophy prices charged (Chris, 1999). Tourism is a growing industry in Africa and the African elephant in addition to other wildlife are important tourist attractions. In eastern and southern African countries, wildlife tourism plays a critical economic importance and millions of foreign tourists visit conservancies bringing in significant foreign revenue. The increasing number of private game ranches in the southern and eastern African region demonstrates the importance of elephant as critical tourist attraction and income earner. A research study conducted in Kenya by WWF (2010) to establish the importance of elephants in the vibrant tourism sector showed that the animals generated revenue of $53 million in the country. In addition, domestication of African countries for tourism safaris is increasing in the continent generating considerable income in countries such as Botswana and Zimbabwe. African elephants are also important cultural symbols in the continent. According to Barnes (1983), their large size, power and relative intelligence compared to other animals have endeared them to traditional leaders. Barnes (1983) noted that the widespread use of ivory in the continent symbolizes power. In addition, the elephant is widely used in the African folklore and oral literature, indicating its relative importance in the continent. Moreover, some parts of the elephant are believed to have certain medicinal powers in the African continent and this contributes to widespread killing of the animal in such regions. Biological importance of elephants and effects of killing them to the environment The African elephant is an important component linking the food web in the ecosystem. Therefore, killing the animals causes drastic environmental impacts. Elephant is the largest land animal and it consumes large volume of vegetation. Due to its large size and huge consumption, it plays an important role in determination of the plant distribution in the ecosystem. Elephants play a crucial role in the dispersal of fruits and seeds (Anderson and Coe 1974). The wide distribution and variety of plants in the African continent is attributed to the elephants because they travel for long distances dispersing the seeds and fruits in their droppings. In tropical forests, elephants open up the dense growth of vegetation by felling trees. This creates ecological niches for specialized disturbance adapted species and creates space for regeneration of trees. The elephants open up the dense forests physically by pulling downs trees, branches, trampling on them and bark stripping. In addition, they pull of the vines and tree climbers, creating openings for penetration of sunlight that supports growth of underground plant species (Chris, 1999). Therefore, reducing the number of elephants in the tropics causes dense growth of bushes. In grasslands, elephants trample down tall grasses, enabling the growth of short and more nutritious plants. The long digestive canal of elephants retains the seeds for long time and their daily movement for long distances ensures that the ingested seeds are dispersed across vast territories. In addition, the passage of some seeds along the digestive system of the elephants breaks their dormancy. Some of such trees species include the acacia seeds. Moreover, elephant droppings provide plant species with nutrients for growth and development. Elephants play a critical role in the cycling of nutrients, which ensures their availability to other plant species and animals in the ecosystem. Moreover, the animals ensure availability of food to other smaller browsers once the elephants pull down branches from tall trees. In addition, they create watering holes in their habitats that trap runoff and rain water. This makes water easily available to animals that do not normally have access to the life-sustaining commodity (Chris, 1999). Interview To protect the elephants from potential extinction, the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) banned the trade of ivory. To examine whether the ban on ivory has reduced the killing of African elephants, I interviewed the director of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Eastern African regional offices, Nairobi, Kenya, Dr Dan Stein through the phone. In the interview, I sought to explore the effectiveness of the ban in reducing the number of African elephants killed by the poachers and the populations of African elephant in East Africa before and after the ban on ivory trade East African region. In addition, I enquired the effects of widespread poaching of the elephant in the region. According to D. Stein (personal communication, 30 October, 2011), Elephant population in east Africa had reduced by over 45% within a period of two decades by the time the ban on ivory trade was implemented. The drastic reduction in elephant population was caused by several factors, including encroachment of the animals habitat through deforestation, farming and human settlement in addition to indiscriminate poaching. According to D. Stein (personal communication, 30 October 2011), poaching accounted to about a third of the total elephants killed during the period. After the ban was effected, elephant population in the region has been on an increasing trend, recording an average of 4% increase annually. However, increase in human population in east African region has caused widespread clearance of elephants habitats to clear more space for settlement and farming (D. Stein personal communication, 30 October, 2011),. Destruction of the habitats remains one of the greatest threats to elephant population in east Africa and the whole region. Widespread poaching of elephants in East Africa caused adverse environmental and economic effects in the region. Elephants play a critical role in regeneration of pastures in wildlife habitats by clearing trees and dense undergrowths in forests in addition to creating waters holes for collecting runoff water. Drastic reduction in the elephant population caused dense growth in forests, reducing the space for the growth of pastures. Hence, wildlife animals, especially browsers migrated from the forests and strayed into agricultural farms, causing more human wildlife conflict (D. Stein personal communication, 30 October, 2011). In summary, D. Stein (personal communication, 30 October 2011) reported a decreasing number of elephants killed in the selected African regions for ivory, meat and skins. Besides the international ban on ivory trade, African countries implemented multiple approaches to protect the animals. These include increasing security of the animals in the protected areas to deter potential poachers and protecting elephant habitats from the destruction. In addition, African governments enhanced security measures to intercept illegal ivory and punish the arrested dealers and poachers severely. Conclusion For a long time, political and economic issues have undermined the conservation efforts of elephant population in Africa. However, it is apparent that the unsustainable killing of the African elephant is a major threat that could lead to its extinction in the future. The growing human population in the continent has further reduced the wildlife habitats leading to constant human – animal conflict that have reduced the elephant population further. To address the problem of declining elephant population, wildlife authorities in the world imposed measures to regulate the trade on ivory and other products obtained from the animals. The Convection on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is one of the global regulatory measures that were imposed to regulate the ivory trade. The implementation of the CITES exports quota system from 1986 to 1989 resulted to a gradual decrease in the volume of officially recorded ivory from Africa (Chris, 1999). However, critics argue that the measures accelerated illegal trade of the products. The minimal success of CITES exports quota system increased the pressure on abolition of ivory trade. In 1989, the trade on ivory was declared illegal after the African elephants and their products were transferred into appendix I of the CITES convention (Chris, 1999). The decision elicited mixed political and economic debates in African countries, especially those with large ivory stocks. Since the enforcement of the international ban on ivory trade, stocks of the elephant products in the hands of the African governments are increasing. The ban renders ivory stocks almost valueless, but they are costly to keep, because they require high security and maintenance. Currently, ivory stocks in Africa are incinerated to dispose them off (Bengis 1996). References Anderson, J. and Coe, M. (1974). Decomposition of elephant dung in an arid tropical environment. Oecologia, 14: 106-140. Barnes, R.(1983). Effects of elephant browsing on woodlands in a Tanzanian national park: Measurements, models and management. J. Appl. Ecol.2: 500-529. Bengis, R.(1996). Elephant population control in African national parks. Pachyderm, 22: 78-86. Chris, T. (1999). Review of African elephant conservation priorities. http://african-elephant.org/tools/pdfs/rvw_cnspri9904_en.pdf visited 13 November 2011. White, J. and Child, G.(1988). The marketing of elephants and field dressed elephant products in Zimbabwe. Pachyderm, 10: 5-12. WWF (World Wildlife Fund)( 2010). African elephants. http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/elephants/african_elephants/ visited 12 November 2011. Read More