Poaching trends in Africa are down from the peak of 2011, and governments, NGOs and individuals around the globe have made significant strides in 2016 to fight the ivory trade that fuels poaching.
In May, African leaders gathered to witness the burning of over 100 tons of elephant tusks and rhino horns in Kenya. This symbolic event was meant to draw attention to elephant conservation efforts and the fight against illegal ivory trade.
One of the most significant global actions taken to date for elephants is now being implemented: a joint commitment by the presidents of the US and China to enact “near complete bans” on the import and export of elephant ivory and domestic ivory trade.
In July, new federal ivory regulations went into effect in the US. China, with the world’s largest legal ivory market, announced in June that it would publicly lay out its own timeline for a ban by the end of the year.
WWF and TRAFFIC launched a major public awareness campaign in early July to persuade Chinese citizens to stop buying ivory as the government prepares to phase out the country's domestic ivory market.
Using social and traditional media, the campaign dissuades people from buying ivory and raises awareness of the link to the slaughter of elephants. People are urged to link their index fingers to show their commitment to protecting elephants and share the message.
Joining the global movement to shutter ivory markets, Hong Kong leaders announced plans to shut down its legal ivory market within five years. WWF praised the plans, but is calling for a much-faster timetable of two years to end ivory trade there.
Government, market and civil society commitments like are critical for landscapes like the Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania’s largest protected area and once home to one of the greatest concentrations of elephants in Africa.
Due to rampant ivory poaching, the population of elephants in Selous has declined by 90 percent in fewer than 40 years. Nearly 110,000 elephants once roamed the savannahs, wetlands and forests of Selous; now only around 15,000 remain in the reserve.
These global efforts, commitments and campaigns come less than two months before the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) CoP17 in Johannesburg. Two critical reports will be presented during this international meeting revealing that elephants continue to be particularly vulnerable in Central and West Africa despite the slight decrease in poaching rates.
The CITES meeting in September will be a key moment for governments of all 181 parties to discuss elephant conservation. While poaching rates have been inching in the right direction, they are still too high for elephants to begin to recover.
One of WWF’s main priorities during this conference will be to focus on the National Ivory Action Plans processes and resolutions that target fundamental drivers of illegal trade such as corruption, lack of enforcement, weak laws, and increased demand in Asia.
These plans outline the critical measures, milestones and timeframes that a CITES party commits to deliver in an effort to strengthen the controls of ivory trade and markets, and help combat the illegal trade in ivory.
This global momentum must continue and grow in our fight to save elephants and sustain this global call to stop wildlife crime.
Elephants have long been potent cultural symbols worldwide, assuming prominent positions in Buddhist and Hindu lore. They are also a frequent target by poachers looking to harvest their tusks and sell them on the black market, leaving behind the bodies of the animals.
Friday is World Elephant Day, a celebration of the animal and also a clarion call for the protection of the giant creatures. Here is what you need to know about the holiday and the animal.
What Is The Purpose Of World Elephant Day?
Unlike other national and international made up holidays, World Elephant Day is less about selling hamburgers or Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwiches and more about promoting the conservation of elephants worldwide.
With the street value of a single elephant tusk running at approximately $15,000, elephants are a prime target of poachers and the main market is China. Countries in Africa and elsewhere where elephants can be found largely ban killing them, but that doesn’t stop the trade. Instead, the largest confiscation of ivory in the past 25 years was relatively recent, in 2013.
There are several elephant conservation groups you can donate to help the cause, including the International Elephant Foundation, the World Wildlife Foundation and Save the Elephants.
Are There More Than One Type Of Elephant? There are at least two main species of elephants and researchers believe that there may be a distinct third as well. The two well-known species are the African elephant and the Asian elephant. They’re super similar in physiology but can’t interbreed, though.
They are both in danger. The Asian elephant is endangered and there are less than 40,000 remaining in the world. The African elephant is classified as threatened and there are less than 400,000 of them alive in the world today.
How Big Are They?They’re huge! African elephants, the bigger of the two, weigh roughly 22,000 pounds each and are the largest land animal Take action: Help save elephants and stop wildlife crime.
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