Issues Concerning Saving African Elephants - Essay Example

? Issues Concerning Saving African Elephants In an army of poachers killed over 22 African Elephants in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The carcasses were grouped together suggesting that the poachers surrounded the elephants before shooting them brutally. They did not spare even the cubs. This was the biggest poaching incident that took place at Garamba, which houses an estimated 2,000-3,000 elephants (African Parks, 2012). Africa is facing severe elephant slaughter and there is heated debate going on worldwide about whether or not to save the African Elephants. Even though they are hunted for their tusks and meat, take up a lot of biomass because of their size and require a lot of land, African Elephants are beautiful, intelligent creatures that should be saved because they are important for tourism in Africa, might become extinct, and are valuable to the environment. African Elephants are endangered species known for their size, primordial trunks, and wrinkly skin. The biggest threat to these elephants is illegal poaching for ivory and meat, the human-elephant conflict and the loss of natural habitat required for their survival (WWF, 2013). It is almost widely believed that these classic species should be “saved” from extinction. However, this idea is not as simple as it sounds because many questions are taken into account such as what this specie should be saved from, who should save it, where it is to be saved and by which group of people the positives and negatives of saving it should be assessed (Thompson 166). Since there are many stakeholders in this particular debate, constant questions are raised about which group of people get to decide whether elephants have a right to be conserved and protected. Since elephant poaching is brutal and they are worthy being saved by virtue of them being living things, religious sentiment is also evoked apart from humanity to stop this killing of innocent animals for material gain. The biggest obstacle in saving African Elephants is the upsurge of ivory trading and ivory prices rocketing. This gives people an incentive to murder these creatures, cut off their tusks and sometimes even their hides and meat to be sold in markets such as China where the demand is high and ivory trading is not against the law. The price of ivory has driven “poaching to never-seen-before-levels” by creating a black market in Asian countries (Lloyd). If this ivory trading is not remedied in time, elephants cannot be saved from poachers who will push these creatures into extinction. Poachers obviously do not believe in conserving African Elephants since the gains from their tusks are too high. In a Congressional hearing on May 24 2012, titled “Ivory and Insecurity” and presided by John Kerry, the issue of poaching and the incentives of the ivory traders was discussed. Tom Cardamone, the Director of Global Financial Integrity, mentioned the “favorable relationship between risk and reward” in illegal ivory trading (Chakradhar). Since countries that have anti-poaching laws usually just collect very small fines and have very short prison sentences for the criminals and the monetary value of ivory trading is very high, this illegal activity is very lucrative (Chakradhar). There are high profit margins and this encourages poachers to go against the conservation of African Elephants, which would result in financial loss. Organizations such as Al-Qaeda, which are financially needy, also find that such trading is very useful and so do not let conservation happen. Since the value of ivory trading is less than trophy hunting, preservation can still occur while keeping the poachers happy by putting a limit to the number of elephants being killed and exported and making sure the elephant population remains stable (Hertzler and Maxwell 29). The human-elephant conflict causes some people to rethink saving the giant African Elephants since natural habitat is significant to their survival and land is limited. Elephants in Africa are found in parks and enclosed places and when surpluses occur, they cannot live in these enclosures since they are migratory specie and needs to be on the move (Hollander 1). This may pose a direct threat to local people who live nearby, since they cannot co-exist with cattle or arable farming and so may destroy crops, houses and even kill people (Hollander 1). Elephants are demanding of their habitats because of their size and each adult elephant requires a square kilometer of habitat and consumes two hundred kilograms of biomass every day (Thompson, pg.166). This poses a huge question for Africans who have to share their agricultural land and natural habitat with the giants who consume it and require huge amounts of it. Moreover, their violent tendencies cause antipathy amongst people who then see no point in conserving creatures that threaten their livestock, farms, and their very lives. This question of human sustenance over the preservation of African Elephants causes many people to draw the obvious conclusion that favors humans over them. However, researchers have found that the relationship between elephants and humans is more nuanced than observed earlier. Research shows that the number of humans does not affect the number of elephants living in an area until it reaches a certain threshold after which they decline sharply, suggesting that they can indeed coexist with humans to a certain level (Science News, 1999). This means that the antipathy towards them is unnecessary and they need saving. Saving African Elephants should be a priority because their only value is not their tusks or hide but they are important in boosting tourism in Africa. Wildlife tourism is very important for the African economy and African Elephants are “one of the Big Five animals” that people come specifically to see in this region (IUCN/SSE African Elephant Specialist Group 15). According to a calculation, the elephants caused 12.6% of the tourists’ attraction and people were willing to see more (15). The value of ivory trade in any year has not exceeded $60 million while the value of tourism in just Kenya exceeded $375 million in the past several years (Barbier et al. 110). This suggests that saving the elephants would contribute to the GDP of Africa greatly and help the economy. A survey determined that if the elephant population were to decrease dramatically in Kenya, tourists would no longer find it “an attractive destination” and would not recommend it to family or friends (144). African Elephants are majestic endangered creatures that need saving because if they are killed repeatedly, they might become extinct. Elephants are being poached in the most violent manners: using aircrafts, weapons and explosives. On March 15, 2013, around 89 elephants were killed brutally in Chad, including 33 pregnant females and 13 calves (WWF, 2013). The carcasses are usually found with the faces destroyed with the tusks and sometimes even the hide and the meat cut out roughly. The images are scaring. This shows African Elephants are facing an existential threat and need conserving because the non-punishment of poachers indirectly nurtures violence. It is against most religions and faiths to carry out acts of brutality against innocent animals and that, too, for material gains and so these elephants need conservation from the terrifying poaching incidents that are multiplying each year. The ecological value associated with African Elephants also makes them important creatures to be saved from poachers. They are “keystone creatures” which contribute to plant species composition and disperse fruits and seeds in addition to maintaining linkages in the food web (IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group 15). Extinction of this specie can lead to a misbalance in the ecosystem, as they are huge creatures that consume large amounts of food. They play an important role in creating clearings in rainforests that cause tree regeneration (15). Moreover, their travelling along long distances causes the dispersal of seeds, germination of certain plants, their digging of holes in the ground to access water makes it available to other creatures, and their dung provides nutrients to the earth (16). Some people may point out that African Elephants can be very destructive to the ecosystem if concentrated in a certain area. They cause destruction of vegetation and loss of biodiversity. A lot of panic is caused by the “overabundance” of these elephants in certain regions. However, “overabundance” has yet to be defined as no specific ratio or number of elephants has been determined as ideal (Balfour 15). The elephant population has to be neither too high nor too low and so maintaining them is advisable but hunting them down should be stopped, as there are studies that show that they are very valuable to the ecosystem and help the environment and landscape when found in a certain density. People may also argue that some religious communities do indeed encourage the massacre of elephants as they use the ivory to make spiritual objects used for religious reasons. This could suggest that religion in a way allows for poaching and so elephants do not need sanctuary from the killings. Asian trade in ivory satisfies the demands of these religious leaders and zealots who make various artifacts out of ivory. However, the Religious and Conservation Research Collaborative (RCRC) has issued statements which make it clear that religion preaches compassion and recommends us to preserve life and the Earth, and so it is clear that from a religious point of view, most leaders agree that elephants should be saved and conservation should occur (Awoyemi). Even though the elephant debate has become increasingly important over the years with environmentalists and social workers thinking it almost natural to save the African Elephants, this problem is nuanced and diverse. Different groups have different stakes in the value of these giant creatures: either for their value to tourism, the value of their tusks, hide and meat or their importance in maintaining a food web. Since the stakeholders are many and some part of criminal groups, it is not easy to conserve this specie and to come up with a management plan that would ensure that they remain in parks and enclosures and not damage human life or farms. It is also hard to rescue them from poachers who are now using sophisticated methods to carry out their brutal hunting. Even though this matter is complex, it is clear that African Elephants should indeed be saved and maintained in an orderly manner because of their value to the ecosystem, their importance for African wildlife tourism and also because as living things, they have a right to live as much as any other animal or human. Moreover, they are beautiful and majestic and have become symbols of the African culture and wild. Works Cited African Parks. Tragic Elephant Poaching Incident in Garamba. Web. March 28, 2013. www.african-parks.org/News_24_Tragic+elephant+poaching+incident+in+Garamba.html. Awoyemi, Stephen. “Saving the African Elephant: A Call to Spiritual Responsibility.” National Geographic Society 1996-2012. Web. March 28, 2013. http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/02/01/saving-the-african-elephant-acall-to-spiritual-responsibility. Balfour, David. Review of Options for Managing the Impacts of Locally Overabundant Africa Elephants. IUCN the World Conservation Union, 2007. Print. Barbier, Edward. B., Joanne C. Burgess, Timothy M. Swanson, and David W. Pearce. Elephants, Economics and Ivory. Earthscan Publication Ltd., 1990. Print. Chakradhar, Shraddha. “Saving the African Elephant.” National Geographic Society 1996-2012. 5 August 2012. Print. Hertzler, Greg, and Maxwell Gomera. Are African Elephants an Endangered Species? IUCN the World Conservation Union, 2004. Print. IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group. Review of African Elephant Conservation Priorities. IUN/SSC the World Conservation Union, April 1999. Print. Law, J., and Annemarie Mol. Complexities: Social Studies of Knowledge Practices. Duke University Press, 2002. Print. Lloyd, Robin. “Scientists scramble to save African elephants.” Science on NBCNEWS. Web. March 28, 2013. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17352833/#.UVNXR_KC9Zo. Science News. “New Key to Saving African Elephants”. Science Daily 1995-2012, 1999. Print. Swanson, Timothy. M., and Edward B. Barbier. Economics for the Wilds: Wildlife, Diversity, and Development. Island Press, 1992. Print. WWF. World Wildlife Fund. Web. March 28, 2013: http://wwf.panda.org/?207951%2FPoachers-kill-at-least-89-elephants-in-Chad. Read More