Saving African Elephants

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Saving African Elephants
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Elephant Taxonomy

• Kingdom Animalia
• Phylum Chordata
• Subphylum Vertebrata
• Class Mammalia
• Order Proboscidea
• Family Elephantidae

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Types of Elephants

• African Elephant

• Asian Elephant

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What Are the Differences Between African and
Asian Elephants?
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African Elephant

• Heaviest animal on land
• Males are heavier than females (weight is
  5,000-14,000 lbs.)
• Second tallest in the animal kingdom (Height is
  12-14 ft.)
• Height of the shoulders are around 8.2 13 ft.

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Subspecies of African Elephant

• Savanna Elephant
• (Loxodonta africana africana)

• Forest Elephant
• (Loxodonta africana cyclotis)

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Distribution of African Elephant
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Life cycle of African Elephant
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Diet
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African Elephant Characteristics
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Elephant Poaching
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Africas Most Notorious Areas for Poaching

• Mainly in Central Africa.
• Kenya
• Tanzania
• Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
• Zambia
• Central African Republic.

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Who is Doing the Poaching?

• Poachers come from all over Africa.
• The military in some nations.
• The wealthy from all over the world for sport.
• Even anti-poaching guards, or rangers, have been
  accused of poaching.

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Why Are They Being Poached?

• Tusks, Meat, and Skin.
• Mostly for their tusks.
• Ivory is used to make a variety of products for
  our entertainment, beliefs, convenience, and even
  alternative medicine (e.g. Traditional Chinese
  medicine).

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Ivory-Based Products
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More Ivory-Based Products
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Ivory-Based Products
1.4 tons of tusks confiscated for Chinese medicine
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"Ivory Removes Bad Spirits"
Religious icons in a Filipino home In Cebu
the word for ivory, garing, also means "religious
statue. "To be respectful of the
Buddha, one should use precious material. If
not ivory then gold. But ivory is more precious."
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What is the Incentive?

• Its all about the money.
• Tusks are White gold.
• Black market prices increased from 200/kg to
  850/kg in the past 4 years.
• Its all being fueled by Chinas economic boom.
• In December of 2011, the largest seizure was in
  Kenya, where a 2,575-kilogram shipment of 727
  pieces of ivory was discovered in a shipping
  container en route to Asia.
• Other large seizures included a 1,100-kilogram
  shipment in Vietnam and a 2,234-kilogram shipment
  in China.

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Incentive

• 200/kg to 850/kg
• A tusk can weigh over 130 pounds (60 kg) each.
• 200 x 60 12,000 and 850 x 60 51,000
• From 12,000 to 51,000.
• Thats a 39,000 jump in the black market
  (assuming one were to buy an entire tusk at 60
  kg).
• 1lb 0.45 kg
• 2.20 lb 1 kg

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Elephant Numbers Are Dropping

• African elephant population went from 1.3 million
  to 625,000 (since the 1970s).
• In 2006, 3,000 elephants were believed to live in
  southeastern Chad. Two years later only 1,000
  were left. A short while after that, only 500
  remained.
• The Kenya Wildlife Service declared that 20,000
  elephants are killed every year.

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Elephant Numbers Are Dropping

• In Garamba National Park (northeastern corner of
  DRC), has had major problems.
• At one point, they had over 20,000 elephants.
• Last year there were around 2,800.
• This past year, only about 2,400 remain.
• A 2009 report from the International Fund for
  Animal Welfare estimated that more than 100
  African elephants are killed every day.
• IUCN Redlist Status Vulnerable

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What is Being Done to Prevent Poaching?

• Protecting and managing natural habitats.
• Allowing a legal ivory trade system with strict,
  limited regulations (CITES). Although, some
  disagree with this.
• More funding to help aid rangers.
• The organization Save the Elephants has been
  involved in developing a viable alternative to
  the sport hunting of elephants.
• Pressure world leaders to increase their focus on
  combating the problem.
• Reduce conflict between human and elephant
  populations.

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What is Being Done?

• In southern Africa, four countries (Namibia,
  Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa) have been
  doing a great job in their conservation efforts.
• In these nations, the populations are increasing
  beyond the caring capacity of the habitat.

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Why Are Elephants so Important?

• The presence of African elephants helps to
  maintain suitable habitats for a myriad of other
  species.
• In central African forests, up to 30 percent of
  tree species may require elephants to help with
  dispersal and germination.
• They play a pivotal role in shaping their habitat
  because of the enormous impact they have on
  factors ranging from fresh water to forest cover.

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What Can You Do?

• Stop purchasing ivory goods!
• Contact your senator and U.S. State Department
  about importation of ivory goods.
• Donate to legitimate foundations.
• Come to our art auction and Spread the word!

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WSU Elephant Art Auction

• Union Building
• Nov. 26 -28
• 830am -300 pm