Do you remember seeing a stuffed tiger or
deer or the elephant head at a museum? Well, since ancient times, hunting was
the game that was enjoyed by aristocrats and royalty. They always wanted to
hunt bigger and faster mammals to show their heroism and the meat was
additional! The gradual shift happened, when animals were hunted for more than
meat and pleasure. It was about what could be done with their body parts and
skin!

In the savannah forests
that houses more than 1000 species of flora and fauna, elephants are the
biggest animals you can observe. Elephants were used by lots of people for transporting
heavy load and humans too. Did you know? They were also used as war machines in
ancient times! And then, they became the next target for the hunters.

 

Why Elephants Are Being Killed?

Since ancient times ivory has been a great
attraction for many people. Earlier ivory was only accessible to the elite and
aristocrats, but with the changing times, general people began to use and sell authentic
ivory based products.

The items that are produced from crafting
the ivory were then sold in the ivory trade market. The main exporters of the
elephant ivory were Asia and Africa. This market is very old and dates back to
the 15^th or 14 century BCE. After the colonization, the westerners realized
the significance of ivory and thus, began the ruthless hunting of elephants.

Elephant Poaching And Illegal Ivory Trade

The elephant killing rates became so high
that the species came to the brink of extinction. In the year of 1942, the
estimated population of African elephant was about 1.3 million and in 1989 it
was reduced to just 600,000. During that period the estimated worth of the
ivory trade was about $1 billion.

International conferences were discussed
but were largely ignored by the African government. Several solutions were sought
with the cooperation of CITES
(Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). During the earlier days CITES tried to
stop the flow of ivory from the African continent but were failed because of
the lack of cooperation from the government side.

How Stopping Ivory Sales Helps In Saving Elephants?

Well, the logic is quite simple! If there
is no demand, there will be no supply and vice versa. If there is no demand for
ivory, the sole purpose to kill the elephants does not exist. For achieving
this target, CITES along with several other organizations like WWF
and TRAFFIC has signed a convention with almost 173 countries banning all kinds
of ivory products.

These countries have to have to report the
number of seized ivory products to the CITES Secretariat.

Also, by closing the existing Chinese
and Japanese markets for ivory trade, CITES has achieved a huge milestone.
According to the organization most of the ivory products were made by the Chinese
and South Asian people. This will reduce the rate of the elephant being poached
for their tusks. These organizations are actively spreading awareness about the
poor condition of the elephant and encouraging for helping in stopping ivory
trade by not buying ivory related items.

In recent times, more countries have
joined the list of countries that have banned any sale of ivory in their
country. For example last year the United
Kingdom banned all forms of ivory trade in the
UK and in the United
States of America, the ivory trade ban has
caused some real damage to its traders and dealers. 

We can say that a ban on ivory trade can
really save elephants from the hands of the poachers. People have to be aware
of the plight and poor conditions of these majestic creatures. They have to
understand that a tusk cannot be compared to the life of this amazing living
creature. We need to be a part of the process and support the global agencies
who are taking big steps towards saving the elephant.