Elephant Ivory Trade

"Killing Jumbos For Art's Sake"

Elephants loom large as a wildlife spectacle. The ivory trade reduces that spectacle into a lump of dead carcasses.

Ivory sells to dealers and artisans at exorbitant prices, giving incentives for poachers to slaughter African and Asian elephants for their tusks alone.
Photo: ivoryandart.com CC

In China and Japan traditional ivory carvings have long been a part of the culture. Beautiful and intricate motifs chiseled into curved elephant tusks are displayed and cherished like master Samarai swords.

Economic gains in Europe, United States, and Asia also allowed for affluent purchases that fueled increases in the ivory market.

The result for wild elephant populations is catastrophic. In just the 1980s alone, African elephants declined by half, succumbing to ivory poachers and deaths related to loss of habitat.

Back in 1989, conservation groups, including TRAFFIC, called for an international ban on all ivory trade products to thwart the decimation of these magnificent mammals.

It is difficult to follow the dynamics of the legal and illegal ivory market; the permitted sale of elephant tusks and the analysis of groups tyring to understand the full impacts of trade and conservation measures.

A big tusker target for poachers?
Photo: Schuyler Shepherd

Ivory Trade: Monitoring and Conservation

Governments, wildlife groups and international organizations all work together to lessen the blow of the illegal wildlife trade and increase monitoring and enforcement efforts to protect wild species.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) takes the lead on dealing with international trade concerns that threaten the survival of animals and plants.

Active over the last 35 years, countries sign on to implement the recommendations of CITES that stipulate different criteria for trading wildlife and plants based on species numbers and potential threats.

For the ivory trade, countries argue for the right to sell old stocks of ivory, while others say it will only skyrocket the demand for more. Even with a ban on selling, conservationists estimate that 20,000 to 23,000 elephants have been killed each year since 2004.

When no more large tuskers remain in the herd, poachers seek out immature animals, thus destroying the gene pool of the wild population.

Staggering and unsustainable elephant deaths require stronger actions to prevent mass slaughter leading to local extinction.

Nearly 60 nations in Asia and Africa maintain elephant populations and all must agree on the best solutions to protect endangered species.

Without cooperation on retaining the international ban on trade, elephants remain at risk to poaching predators to supply even a small demand for ivory. Some countries, like Kenya, recommend a 20-year moratorium to allow wildlife agencies to stop trade, improve enforcement and enable elephants to recover.

The expansive savannah would be incomplete without the picturesque and majestic silouettes of the African elephant. But now poachers target the rainforest to conceal their illegal hunts and chase after more tuskers.