Africa was home to more than 10 million wild African Elephants in the 1930s. Since then, the population has dropped to about 415,000.
“Elephants are important ecosystem engineers,” according to the World Wildlife Foundation. Elephants are keystone species. “They help maintain the biodiversity of the ecosystems they inhabit,”
The biggest threat to elephant populations all over the world is the illegal ivory trade. Found in the tusk of the elephant, ivory holds cultural value. In many African cultures, ivory is a symbol of prosperity and respect because it comes from elephants, which are highly respected animals. Ivory is also easy to carve, making it easy to create weapons, tools, and art.
Tusks are simply large, long teeth. They have no rarity value, but in some cultures, they are compared to diamonds. The rise of China’s middle class has pushed up the demand for ivory, where it sells for around $1,100 per kilogram.
Elephant poaching is the killing of elephants and the extraction of their tusks. In order to remove the tusk of an elephant, one must slaughter the creature and remove its entire face. One-third of an elephant’s tusk is inside the skull. This is why removing the face is necessary for extracting the whole tusk. Poaching kills around 20,000 elephants every year and an estimated 55 to 100 elephants a day. Elephant poaching is most common in Africa and Asia.
This act is dangerous for not only elephants but our ecosystem. “An elephant footprint can enable a micro-ecosystem that, when filled with water, can provide a home for tadpoles and other organisms,” according to the World Wildlife Foundation. “Elephants help maintain forest and savanna ecosystems for other species and are integrally tied to rich biodiversity,”
The illegal ivory trade generates billions of dollars every year.
“The illegal wildlife trade is worth 20 billion dollars a year, and the ivory is probably 4 billion of that. It’s well funded and well organized,” said Dr. Sam Wasser from the University of Washington about the subject. “That’s why we call them transnational organized criminals,” Wasser said.
Ivory poaching has affected the way elephants are evolving.
According to Vox Media, “In recent decades, there has been an increasing trend of elephants being born tuskless.” Elephant populations who are more subject to poaching have seen an increase in tusklessness rates compared to undisturbed populations.
Elephants are not the only large mammals in danger due to poaching. Rhinoceros populations have seen a drastic decrease due to horn harvesting.
The Javan rhino is a species of rhinoceros that has suffered severely due to poaching. The horned mammal used to roam the wild. The number of Javan rhinos left in the wild is less than 70. All kinds of rhinos are at risk of extinction. There are only 5,000 Black rhinos left in the wild. Elephants and rhinos are disappearing right before our eyes.
To help stop rhinos and elephants from going extinct, you can do private research to find the best organizations to donate to, the best petitions to sign, and you can shop smarter. If you reduce the purchasing of ivory, you reduce the demand for ivory.