Nearly 90 Elephants Killed By Poachers in Africa’s Last ‘Safe Haven’. Articles like this made headlines around September 3rd, 2018 proving that elephant poaching is still a problem in our modern day world. Countries worldwide have tried different ways to get rid of this issue but haven’t yet found a solution to this ongoing problem. Ivory has been a coveted product for decades. Unlike the Asian Elephants, African Elephants have tusks made of ivory. The only way to get the ivory is to kill the elephant. With the ongoing demand for ivory, this has created a problem with elephant populations. With bans on hunting elephants, poachers, populations of elephants, and possible solutions all floating around in my mind I think to myself, Is there a way to end this catastrophic crisis?

Bans on hunting elephants have been one tactic of settling the population decrease in elephants. In response to the threat to elephant populations, many countries placed bans on the export and import of ivory in 1988. The movement began with the United States’ ban on the import of ivory products. West Germany and twelve other European countries banned the import of ivory as well. Although there were bans in place people still poached elephants because the profits outweighed the fines. With lots of failed attempts, many African countries got rid of the ban. Even though elephant poaching is a terrible thing, African countries wouldn’t return to the banning of the ivory trade because it boosts their economy. According to the New York Times, as of November 2018, the United States has moved to allow hunters to import big-game trophies such as elephant tusks and lion hides obtained in certain African countries. The new policy doesn’t mean that all trophies will be permitted though. The applicants will have to meet the same conservation and sustainability requirements as before.

A poacher is a person who hunts or catches game illegally. Countries have observed that most large shipments of ivory are very organized. It is suspected that the Chinese lead the crime organizations in some countries while warlords lead the crime organizations in other countries. Many poachers are trophy hunters. Most of the time they aren’t hunting elephants for food, they just want the husks for ivory. Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia are the six main countries that elephant poaching is a problem in. Poachers have really affected the elephant populations worldwide.

Elephant populations are decreasing drastically. According to the world wildlife endangered list, at least 5 different species of elephants are endangered. Even more species of elephants are categorized under the threatened or vulnerable lists. Even with the decreasing populations of elephants experts say that Botswana may have too many elephants. Politicians will even argue that there are 7 to 8 times too many elephants. Botswana has surpassed the carrying capacity for elephants but the populations are still quickly decreasing.

Solutions to the elephant poaching crisis are uncertain but there are some ideas to get it under control. Countries have tried banning the hunting of elephants but there are still trophy hunters that will hunt them anyways. Bans have failed because the financial gains have surpassed the fines. Poachers can make more ten times money from one poaching raid then farming for a whole year. According to Emily Hutchens, one possible way to decrease poaching is having even punishments. All countries with elephants should have the same punishment for poaching an elephant. This is to eliminate the possibility of a trophy hunter going to another country to hunt because the punishment is less. Another possible solution to this ongoing problem is the 3 step AEAP, African Elephant Action Plan. The first step is reducing the illegal killing of elephants and illegal trade in elephant products. The second step is maintaining elephant habitats and restoring connectivity. The third step is reducing human-elephant conflict. There are faults in both of these possible solutions but so does every other plan. These steps should be taken to conserve the elephant populations.

Bans on elephant hunting, poachers, decreasing elephant populations, and possible solutions all play a huge role in this worldwide crisis. Taking steps to solve this problem will hopefully result in eliminating headlines like “Nearly 90 Elephants Killed By Poachers in Africa’s Last ‘Safe Haven’.” Help save the elephant population not destroy it.