Should All Wild Elephants Have Their Tusks Cut Off To Prevent Poaching - Essay Example

?Should All Wild Elephants Have Their Tusks Cut Off To Prevent Poaching? Kahumbu argues that poaching of African and Asian elephants have been on theincrease in the recent times (par. 1). The increase in poaching has resulted in the significant reduction in the number of elephants in both Africa and Asia. Research indicates poaching for elephants have been on the increase because the tusks worth a lot of money in the black market. Elephant tusks are used for making jewelries and ornaments that are worth millions of dollars. Kahumbu indicates that China offers a large market for most poachers (par. 3). This follows a finding that showed that most elephant tusks from African countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe find their way into China, where the market for elephant tusks is booming. The increase in poaching for elephant tusks threatens the existence of this important species. In fact, environmentalists have warned that elephants could soon become extinct if something is not done to arrest the situation. Kahumbu reports that Africa had about 1,000,000 elephants in 1980 (par. 4). However, this number has since reduced to less than 400,000 elephants. Africa reportedly loses about 100 wild elephants every day to poachers seeking tusks. Zimbabwe and Kenya are among the African are among the worst hit countries that faces a serious reduction in the number of wild elephants due to increased poaching. Zimbabwe recently lost more than 300 elephants due to increased poaching in the country (Thornycroft and Laing 9). Zimbabwe ha the largest number of elephant population in the world today. This is after its elephants from its neighboring countries in East and Central Africa have been killed by poachers. However, this number is reducing at an alarming rate and the Zimbabwean authorities are concerned by the rate of increased poaching in the country. Kenya is another African country that has one of the highest elephant populations in the world (Kemei 6). However, the number of wild elephants in Kenya has reduced significantly in the past few years due to the poaching menace. A report by the Kenya Wildlife Service reveals that Kenya loses hundreds of elephants to poachers every year. In fact, recently, Kenya experienced a spate of poaching of elephants for tusks. Most of these elephants were found killed and their tusks chopped off and sold in the black market. Thorneycroft and Laing observed that Africa lost at least 17,000 elephants in 2011 (9). These elephants were killed and their tusks chopped off and sold in the international market. They noted that ivory is prized as a ’white gold’ in Asian countries such as China, where the growing middle class is seeking safe investments. The report also found that the trade in illegal ivory has more than doubles since 2007. The problem of poaching of elephants for tusks is real and something needs to be done to arrest the poaching menace. A variety of proposals has arisen as being the best strategy of dealing with the elephant poaching menace. In this regard, some people have proposed that all wild elephants should have their tusks cut off to prevent poaching. This proposal has generated a lot of controversy and dilemma among environmentalists and wildlife conservationists. Those in support of this view argue that by cutting off all the tusks of elephants, poachers will not be motivated to kill elephants, as there would be no tusks to sell in the black market (Thornycroft and Laing 9). Some also argue that cutting off all elephant tusks will force people trading in ivory in Asia to close down their businesses and venture into other activities. However, as much as the world, especially the affected countries are in dire need of preventing poaching, I totally disagree with the suggestion of cutting off the tusks of all wild elephants. Ethically, this is not right before God. I believe that God created the tasks for a reason. Therefore, as man, it is not ethical for us to cut off the tusks of elephants since tasks help elephants in performing a number of duties. For instance, most elephants, especially those with tusks depend a lot on tusks for defense. This implies that, by cutting off tusks, we will be exposing wild elephants to the dangers of lacking a way of defending themselves in the event of an attack. Secondly, I believe that quite a number of strategies exists that can be used to prevent poaching other than cutting off the tusks of elephants. Most of these strategies can prove very effective as long as they are implemented to the later. In this regard, poaching can effectively be prevented by stopping the manufacture of ornaments and jewelries from elephant tusks. This many involve encouraging the Asian dealers to stop the illegal trade. By doing so, poachers will lack the ready market to sell the tusks as noted by Kemei (6). As a result, we shall have prevented the poaching menace. As earlier stated, trade in elephant tusks is a lucrative business in Asia, particularly in China. Therefore, stopping trade in ivory in the countries that promote poaching will certainly make poachers lack the market for ivory, which will effectively see an end to poaching. Since convincing those dealing in illegal trade in the Asian countries to stop their activities will not be easy, it will be necessary for the government of these countries to enact laws that prohibits the manufacture or trade in anything made of ivory (Thornycroft and Laing 9). Certainly, putting such a measure will help prevent the problem of illegal poaching. This is because, not unless this countries act appropriately, poaching will not be stopped anytime soon. In fact, there is no way a country as if China can pretend to be at the forefront in fighting against poaching, whereas it accepts its citizens to import ivory obtained illegally from other countries. I also strongly believe that we can succeed in the war against poaching by increasing the security of the national parks and game reserves, instead of considering cutting elephant tusks. This is because it appears that most poachers take advantage of lack of proper security in the parks and game reserves to kill elephants for tucks. Research conducted in major game parks such as the Maasai Mara game Park in Kenya showed that poachers are taking advantage of lack of security to kill elephants and chop off their tusks, which they later sell in the black market (Kemei 6). Therefore, it is prudent of us to consider boosting the security of parks by deploying officers and even using satellite cameras to check the movements of elephants. This will make it easy for the officers operating game parks to know the movement of elephants, thereby helping that they are secure everywhere they go. In fact, the Kenyan government, through Kenya wildlife is considering this strategy as a means of ensuring its elephants remain secure in the parks and game reserves. According to Kemei, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) recently deployed additional anti poaching squad to secure forests bordering Maasai Mara National Reserve to hunt down poachers who have been terrorizing elephant in the national reserve for tusks (6). The government of Kenya has since witnessed a significant reduction in poaching. This shows that poaching can easily be prevented by beefing up security of game parks and national reserves without necessarily cutting off their tusks. I also strongly believe that poaching can be prevented by stopping corruption instead of cutting off elephant tusks. Thornycroft and Laing argue that Africa has the highest incidences of corruption (9). In fact, corruption rates are particularly high in countries where elephants are found such as Kenya, Zimbabwe. Research has shown that most game rangers who are in charge of securing the national parks and game reserves colludes with the poachers and illegal traders of ivory to kill and remove elephant tusks in return for small amount of Kenya. In Kenya for instance, a game ranger was found in the past few months with ivory worth thousands of dollars in her possession, notes Kemei (6). Similar cases have also been reported in Zimbabwe where game rangers either are directly involved or collude with poachers to kill and sell elephant tusks. As such, it becomes apparent that dealing with the poaching menace starts with cleaning the messes such as corruption in the countries where elephants are killed for tusks rather than removing cutting off the tusks. In conclusion, poaching is posing a real threat to the survival of elephants today more than ever before. The elephant population has declined drastically over the past few decades. Surveys currently put the African elephant population at less than 400,000 down from 1,000,000 in 1989. Elephants could soon become extinct, if the statistics above is anything to go by. The decline is attributed to the increased poaching of elephants for tusks. However, I strongly disagrees with the proposal that to prevent poaching, all elephant tusks should be cut off. My disagreement with this position is not only because it is unethical, but also because there are quite a number of preventing measures that can be taken without necessarily cutting off the tusks. This includes tightening laws on illegal trade in ivory, beefing up security of national parks and game reserves, as well as stopping corruption. The effective adoption and implementation of these strategies would certainly help prevent poaching of elephants for ivory. Works Cited Kahumbu, Paula. “How Do We Save African Elephants From Extinction?” Web. 28 October 2013 http://www.ted.com/conversations/16713/how_do_we_save_african_elephan.html. Kemei, Kipchumba. “Anti-Poaching Squad Deployed To Protect Elephants In Narok.” Standard Group October 13, 2013: 6. Print. Thornycroft, Peta and Laing, Aislinn. “Poachers Kill 300 Zimbabwe Elephants With Cyanide.” The Telegraph, Oct 20, 2013: 9. Print. Read More