Elephants
Elephants are the largest land animals and they need plenty of space to roam and graze. They
have seasonal migration routes. As human populations rise, elephant land is being cleared for
agriculture and other kinds of development.
Habitat loss means that large animal species end up sharing ever smaller areas. It is common for
elephants and rhinos to clash with one another if forced into close proximity. When animals are
effectively trapped on small areas of land, it also restricts the gene pool and usually results in a
shortage of food.
Where elephant reserves border agricultural areas, elephants are often tempted to leave parks to
raid crops and granaries. Only the sturdiest walls will stop a mature elephant (males can weigh
6,000kg) so farmers have great difficulty protecting their fields.
In India, elephants don't only raid for food. Some have developed a taste for rice beer and go on
drunken rampages. In Assam, elephant/human conflict has resulted in the death of more than 150
people and 200 elephants in the space of two years.
Where human communities are struggling to grow enough to eat, marauding elephants are shot,
speared or poisoned. The latter practice also affects wildlife that scavenges poisoned elephant
meat.
Poverty leads to the killing of elephants for meat. This is a particular problem in central Africa
where elephant carcasses have been found stripped of flesh, but with tusks still intact. If people
don't have enough food and their governments cannot afford to enforce poaching bans, it's not
difficult to predict the outcome.
Ivory comes from elephant tusk, an oversized incisor that can grow to be 3m long. Both male and
female African elephants have large tusks.
During the 1970s and 80s, the demand for ivory contributed to the halving of the world's elephant
population (from around 1.3 million to 600,000). At this time, poachers were killing a thousand
elephants a week.
The trade in African elephant ivory was banned by the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES) in 1990, but the poaching continues and some evidence suggests
it's on the increase.
Most new ivory comes from Africa and is sold as a high status material in Asian countries such as
Thailand, mainland China and Japan. It is carved to make ornaments, chopsticks and ink stamps.
The conservation priority here is to change public attitudes.
In some countries in southern Africa, where conservation efforts have been successful, there is
not enough room for a growing elephant population and animals have to be culled. A CITES
meeting in November 2002 ruled that Botswana, Namibia and South Africa could sell stock-piled
ivory, starting in 2004.
Many conservationists are convinced that this fuels the demand for ivory and leads to more illegal
poaching. They say it is virtually impossible to tell legal from poached ivory. The governments
argue that the sales fund conservation work.
Many elephant conservation organisations campaign to stop live elephants being exported for
exhibition in zoos and circuses. They are concerned that the methods used to tame wild elephants
are excessively cruel. Elephants are beaten, kept in chains, confined to small spaces, hobbled and
food and water is withheld from them.
Studies have shown that elephants form strong family bonds. Scientists believe that they have
emotional lives much like humans. The deaths and disappearances of elephants, caused by the
ivory and live export trades, result in signs of grief and depression in their relatives.
The majority of zoos in the UK are phasing out the keeping of large animals in confined spaces.
Many are focussing on conservation work and education instead. Not all zoos in the world,
however, are so concerned for the welfare of the animals in their care.
Although the demand for animal circuses in the UK is declining, in mainland Europe and other
parts of the world, it is quite common for elephants to be kept solely to entertain the public
Elephant Poaching … What is the solution?
Thinking about many of the differing viewpoints this
issue can be viewed from and discuss a possible
solution. What would be your solution
Skills to use : Bloom’s Taxonomy Questioning
Responding appropriately
Respecting opinions
Building on ideas/previous thinking