THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT COULD BE WIPED OUT
When you go to China and the Far East, the demand for Ivory is mushrooming every now and then; this means Africa’s Elephant population is under threat to poachers who trade in the commodity.
Before the ban on Ivory trade was lifted in 2008 for the Southern African countries to trade stockpiled ivory to China and Japan, the selling of ivory was illegal worldwide since 1989. This has increased the demand for ivory.
Several country governments have come up with campaigns to protect these endangered species by using tougher law enforcement and improving public education to bring the trade under control but the poachers, who are impoverished and desperate locals employed by criminal gangs enjoying the lion’s share from the trade, cannot stop the activity because it’s their source of earnings. The poachers are usually heavily armed and therefore the government wildlife military units are outgunned during the action. This has made it hard for the governments to control the killing of the African Elephant. The collection and shipping is usually carried out by Chinese permanently living in the African countries.
Chopsticks, jewellery and other household ornaments are carved out of this ivory. Wealthy Chinese nationals from Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing are the main buyers of these carvings because they prefer African Ivory to Asian.
Many wildlife groups say elephant poaching rates in Africa are now increasing year by year; in Cameroon over 300 elephants were killed in 10 weeks well as in Gabon, 50 elephants are estimated to be killed per week and therefore, the population could be wiped out in 10 years time.
Many charities have been founded to protect endangered African species: namely, Save the Elephants charity founded by I. Douglas Hamilton; Amboseli Trust for Elephants in Kenya and many more alike. These insist that they have a consistent and firm position to fight against the illegal trade of ivory in Africa. Lets join them in the fight!!!!
