Follow Up: Elephant Poaching and the Ivory Trade

“It is difficult to know exactly how many people have died.”

This weekend the New York Times posted another article about elephant poaching and the ivory trade. While not an extension of the article described in my blog post from September 12^th, it does further investigate the consequences of such a lucrative “sport.” The author of the Op-Ed column, Louisa Lombard, examines the loss of human life in addition to that of the majestic elephant.

The spoils of an ivory seizure in Kenya. The 1,550-plus pounds of ivory, valued at an approximately $750,000 US dollars, was guessed to have come from 50 adult male elephants. DNA testing can be used to determine from where the elephants had originated. 

Photo credit: http://www.awf.org/blog/huge-ivory-seizure-two-men-arrested/ 

One of the most sobering figures in her article is the lack thereof. As the first line of this post implies, no one knows exactly how many people have lost their lives by getting involved on either side of the war for ivory. Some groups keep track of how many guards are lost. No one even attempts to record the number of poachers killed.

What can be done to effectively stop the slaughter of both human and elephant life in the name of ivory? Lombard acknowledges that “human management” of the crisis (ie wildlife conservation) is relatively futile. She instead claims that, “curbing the demand for ivory is, in the end, the only way to curb both elephant and people life.” Yet I do not understand how such reduction in demand is possible. The countries with the highest demand for ivory cherish it for its religious connotations, not its construction properties or beauty.

Intricately carved ivory religious figurines. The notion that ivory honors God is evident in Buddhism and Catholicism.

Photo credit: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/19/illegal_ivory_trade_in_thailand/

Asking the Chinese to relinquish their love of ivory equates to asking Americans to omit “one nation under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance: it’s simply not going to happen.

I wholeheartedly support freedom of religion (though I myself am unreligious). But in a situation like this, where religion is tied up in other global conflicts, I feel hypocritical. Pretend such ivory demand existed in the United States. I believe I would advocate for regulations restricting the import and sale of ivory, whether it be used for religious purposes, piano keys, trinkets, etc in order to protect the elephants. But if ivory is believed by some religions to honor God, then are restrictions on its import and sale a violation of the First Amendment? Is asking a person to reconsider what he or she uses to honor God imposing upon his or her religious freedom? To me, it feels like it does.

In that case, how do we attempt to balance the two?  One solution I thought of was using elephant meat to feed starving villages. At least in that respect, the death of an elephant serves a bigger purpose than fueling the ivory trade. Yet that solution fails to protect elephants as a species and inevitably would create a whole assortment of other problems.  No answer will be the perfect solution. Sadly, more humans and elephants will have to die until that solution emerges.

At The Trailhead

Two months out from the November presidential election, it seems as though all anyone can talk about is the campaign. Engaged in a transcontinental game of “he said, she said,” both Obama and Romney pledge reforms neither can realistically make while they simultaneously denounce their opponent and his party. Scanning the headlines on NYTimes.com yesterday, I saw election coverage, election coverage and what a surprise more election coverage. Thus I wanted to take this opportunity to remind Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney (as well as the American media) that there is more going on in September 2012 than who will next inhabit the White House. 

Exasperated, I clicked on the “World” tab and browsed the article titles, finally settling on one that fell under the “Most E-mailed” category. The five-page article, Elephants Dying in Epic Frenzy as Ivory Fuels Wars and Profits, revealed the disturbing escalation of violent elephant poaching as a result of increased demand for ivory in Asia. I’ll expand upon my thoughts about the article in the next post but in the meantime, check out the full article here. Most upsetting to me however wasn’t the loss of elephant life: it was the fact I’d indirectly facilitated it.  More specifically, it was my tax dollars designated to support underfunded ally African governments that enabled the deaths of hundreds and hundreds of elephants for their precious tusks.

That’s funny…I never approved my dollars to do that.

            This November, I will join the many previously ineligible voices in casting my first vote in a presidential election. With Election Day rapidly approaching, it is our responsibility to be educated voters.  As part of an assignment for my World Politics class at Mount Holyoke College, I’m making it my mission to investigate and track down my federal tax dollars on all seven continents. Where exactly do they go? Who benefits from them? Do people actually benefit from them? Are the recipients really deserving of aid? And most importantly, where do I want them to go?

 photo credit: http://www.jessehora.com/index.php?/ongoing/somethin-somethin-series/