Species Highlight: Elephants!

Elephant facts, why they are endangered and what you can do to help save them from extinction!

Wondering about why the blog's name changed? Read why here.

Elephant Facts:

• There are two types of elephants: African and Asian

• Male and female African elephants have tusks made of ivory

• Only some male Asian elephants have tusks and no female Asian elephants have them

• African elephants live in (Africa's) grasslands, scrub, and forests while Asian elephants primarily live in Southeast Asia's forests

• Just like people are right or left-handed, elephants are right or left-tusked and that's why one tusk is often shorter than the other (it's worn down from use)!

What is the main reason that elephants are endangered?

The main cause of elephant endangerment is poaching - the illegal killing or capturing of animals, typically done for profit. Elephants are poached for their ivory tusks, which can be worth roughly $1,000 a pound. For countries like China, the largest consumer of illegally gathered ivory per year, the 200-250 pound sets of male tusks is worth an elephants life. But if we would never consider doing this to a person, why do we justify doing it to an elephant? They are living beings just like us and that is often oversimplified in the poaching world. Ivory is even more valuable in China than other countries because it was often given as a traditional gift as chopsticks and jewelry. China is stuck in this harmful concept of tradition so much so that two-thirds of China's population thought that tusks "grew back like fingernails".

What are other causes of elephant endangerment?

Elephant endangerment is also caused by hunting for bushmeat and habitat destruction. As the human population increases, animals populations are decreasing. I hardly think that this is a coincidence. The human race is destroying elephant habitats for urban development like company buildings and housing which is consequently forcing elephants to live in smaller spaces and leading to overgrazing. Overgrazing potentially eliminates or severely decreases the amount of grass in an area, leading to soil erosion that hinders future grass growth. The cycle viciously continues. Furthermore, human development causes habitat fragmentation which often separates herds of elephants from each other, as well as from potential food and water sources. Smaller groups of elephant populations make mating harder, further decreasing the elephant population.

How have governments been involved with elephant endangerment?

The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species' (CITIES) implemented an ivory ban in 1989. This ban proved so effective that CITIES allowed a one-time sale of pre-ban ivory to Japan in 1999, and another one to both Japan and China in 2008 (The Week). This decision backfired somewhat against CITIES and caused a poaching resurgence since there is no concrete method to distinguish pre and post-ban ivory from each other. In the United States today, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced they would lift a former import ban on sport-hunted trophies that wouldn't allow hunted ivory into the country. After public uproar, President Donald Trump said he wouldn't let this happen, yet the ban was still lifted. Humans continue to hunt elephant's ivory for economic superiority and numbers have now decreased to 400,000-500,000 African elephants and 30,000-50,000 Asian elephants. What do these statistics mean? We need to do more to encourage governments around the world to take elephant endangerment and poaching seriously. The government isn't doing anything about it now, why would they start without any strong public uproar and initiative? Do something!

What is that something?!

• Donate to conservation causes - donate to the World Wildlife Fund HERE! Learn more about the WWF who works to protect nature and all of its natural beauty.

• Buy land already developed so not to ruin more habitats

• Do not add to the problem... Don't purchase ivory products!!! (I promise you, that piece of jewelry is NOT worth an elephants life and the fake one looks just as good)

• Write to your leaders and voice your discontent with the current state of elephant populations

Continued conservation efforts have seen the reclassification of species from endangered to vulnerable. Hopefully humans can see this happen to elephants in the future. As if you need another reason to get involved, read about the success story of giant pandas.

Sources Used:

“Elephants.” International Elephant Foundation, 2018. elephantconservation.org/elephants/elephants/.

Dwyer, Colin. “Trump Administration Quietly Decides - Again - To Allow Elephant Trophy Imports.” NPR, NPR, 7 Mar. 2018, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/06/591209422/trump-administration-quietly-decides-again-to-allow-elephant-trophy-imports.

“Elephant.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, 2018, www.worldwildlife.org/species/elephant?_ga=2.234408154.550867508.1541350798-2041501682.1540953819.