Elephant Poaching Research Paper

African elephants are docile and gentle creatures. For centuries, the elephants have played a critical role in maintaining balance between other species in the community by digging trails for water to pool in for other animals, opening forest land to create firebreaks, and dispersing seeds to maintain the diverse tree population (Scriber). However, the population of these important mammals has dwindled greatly over the years. Currently, they are listed as “vulnerable” under the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), meaning ‘they are facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future’ (“Conservation Status”). This dramatic decline is caused primarily by elephant poachers: people who illegally hunt elephants for …show more content…
In 2011, an in-depth investigation over the span of 18 months commissioned by the Elephant Action League showed that the al Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab generated close to $600,000 each month solely from elephant tusks. The vast sum of money acquired from this “industry” is put to use by paying its soldiers adequately and maintaining a relatively successful military force. This murderous enterprise makes for roughly 40% of Al-Shabaab’s total operating budget (Poe). Another armed group that gains from elephant poaching is the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army). As mentioned in Ban Ki-Moon’s (the United Nations Secretary General) report on the LRA’s activities, he notes that criminal activities committed by this particular group has become a growing concern to Central Africa’s safety. The report states that “[the] illegal killings that are occurring on a mass scale in Central Africa, often with the use of sophisticated weapons and other equipment, is decimating local elephant populations and has serious impacts on people and on national and regional security” (“UN Secretary-General’s…”). U.S. State Department’s Marty Regan agrees, saying that ivory finances terrorism, operating as “a savings account for Kony (the LRA’s notorious leader).” To further observe and understand how ivory links to the LRA, National Geographic commissioned the creation of artificial tusks with hidden GPS’s and planted them into the direct route of the supply chain to see where they would go. Sure enough, the tusks moved to Asia as the LRA profited off of the poaching (Christy). Terrorists making elephant poaching a beneficial source to help fuel their schemes are an intersection of two main problems that weigh heavily today. If restrictions to poaching are not enforced and these groups are not closely monitored, the African elephant population will

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