Halt African Elephant Poaching Now Before It Is Too Late

  • by: Elle Owen
  • recipient: China’s State Forestry Administration Contact: Zhao Shucong

In just the past three years, over 100,000 African elephants were poached for their ivory tusks. The rate at which elephants are being illegally hunted, according to experts, places them at risk of becoming extinct within the next one or two decades. China, is the single most important influence for the increasing trend in illegal trade in ivory, which is causing increased poaching and smuggling.

The vast majority of the illegal ivory — experts say as much as 70 percent — is flowing to China, and though the Chinese have coveted ivory for centuries, never before have so many of them been able to afford it. China’s economic boom has created a vast middle class, pushing the price of ivory to a stratospheric $1,000 per pound on the streets of Beijing.

Conservationist groups say that poachers are killing tens of thousands of elephants every year. They compare poaching with the blood diamond conflict which has been going on in Africa for many years. They warn that if poaching does not come to a haltAfrican elephants will become extinct.

Mary Rice, executive director of the Environmental Investigation Agency, says there's only one real solution: "We need to learn from history and permanently shut down all ivory trade — international and domestic."

This is the only way to keep African elephants from becoming extinct. The demand needs to stop. The chinese culture can help by completely banning all ivory trade in their country and, by enforcing strict punishment and fines to those who continue to be a part in ivory trade. Ivory must be seen as a relic of the past and no longer desirable.

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