The Poaching Issue We Can’t Ignore
When it comes to a large amount of issues today many of us choose to ignore what does not concern us, and through that disconcerting mindset we have seen the demise of our natural environment. Unfortunately with the demand of ivory and fur pelts animals like tigers, bears, elephants, and rhinos, are subject to killings by poachers. These killing are motivated by the thousands of dollars, people are willing to pay, all over the world, for the personal enjoyment of having elephant tusks, rhino horns, or fur pelts of a tiger or bear. Recent saddening news from The Guardian of a southern white rhino, named Vince, who was shot three times and had his horn sawed in the confines of the Thiory Zoo, just outside of Paris, France, raises further concern about the poaching issues in our world today. In Africa alone, over 1,000 rhinos have been killed illegally each year, for the past four years, as reported by the WWF (World Wildlife Foundation). This statistic is also poorly complimented by a continuous threat to elephants that claims the lives of almost 20,000 elephants annually, as the demand for ivory increases, with China as a major target because of their ivory market. With China deciding to make strides in banning their ivory trade by the end of 2017, this is a victory in some ways but also will require diligent monitoring. As the World Wildlife Foundation reports, with the help of Dr. Renee Lertzman, a communications strategist and psychological researcher, the goal is to better understand what motivates the ivory trade and how to redirect their interests in that market. As Dr. Lertzman suggests in her guide, “By applying behavioral and neurosciences, we have reframed our understanding of the core challenge as reducing ‘consumer desire’ rather than simply reducing ‘consumer demand,' a shift we believe will be critical to really drive change” (WWF, 2017). This idea is one that also does not just translate to the demand in china for ivory, but also to various realms of poaching whether, whether for fur pelts, whale blubber, shark fins, etc. Another poaching incident in Kenya that left an African Elephant, known as a rare “great tusker” elephant and one of the last of his kind, raises the alarm and makes us wonder what it will take to stop these poaching incidents. While fortunately Satao II was not mutilated and able to keep his horns as National Geographic reported, and the poachers were caught this problem is not one that is simply going away (2017). It can be brought to attention, that with many of these poachers coming from poor families, will these bans on ivory increase the demand rather than curb it with the high price ivory can fetch (up to $15,000 for an intact elephant tusk)? The work of people like Dr. Lertzman, is a valuable step in helping understand how we can limit the sale of ivory and hopefully lower its value by educating the buyers of not just it’s illegality, but the damages it is doing to the environment. As animals are killed for human enjoyment and the poaching industry we continue to go down a path of destruction as animal life is compromised. If we are to see changes in the poaching industry we aren’t just going to need to arrest and punish these people for what they are doing, but look at the consumers of the illegal wildlife trade and understand what motivates them to make these purchases and hopefully motivate change by informing them of the impact their purchases have. Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/08/police-to-visit-uk-zoos-and-wildlife-parks-after-rhino-killing-in-france https://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/more-than-1-000-rhinos-poached-in-south-africa-for-fourth-straight-year https://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/demand-vs-desire-new-guide-reframes-ivory-consumption-challenge http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/africa-tusker-elephant-satao/ https://www.worldwildlife.org/publications/a-rapid-assessment-of-u-s-physical-ivory-markets
