Essay On Elephant Poaching

At the rate that poaching is transpiring, elephants will be extinct by the year 2020 (Mosbergen). The population of elephants has drastically decreased. Ivory-seeking poachers have killed 100,000 African elephants in just three years, which is roughly 100 elephants everyday. This ecological impact is immense, and if nothing is done to stop poaching, elephants will become extinct before we know it. Poaching is a serious problem, especially in Africa and Asia and it takes place for commercial profit, meaning hunters kill animals illegally and sell their body parts. The number of elephants left in Africa is difficult to calculate, so there are different accounts of how many elephants are still wild in Africa. The majority of estimates say that …show more content…
Elephants are eco-engineers, meaning they help prevent bush encroachment and create open spaces for themselves and other animals (Watt). Elephants are also highly sensitive animals, so when an elephant calf sees its mother get killed, it grieves, has no will to live, and has frequent nightmares (Redmond). Calves are only fully weaned off their mother when they reach about six years old, so the calf would be now orphaned and probably die of starvation (Mosbergen). While the poachers usually target the bull (male) elephants for their fuller tusks, they will kill the cows (females) and the calves if that is all they can find (“Polishing of the Ivory”). Without the dominant bull in an area, younger males can become overly aggressive and sexually charged, which reduces reproductive success (“Polishing of the Ivory”). Poachers usually target the elephants with the best, or biggest, tusks, usually males in their prime breeding years and the matriarch of a herd of cows (“Polishing of the Ivory”). If the matriarch, the leader of the herd, gets killed, the remaining cows will have trouble with survival and reproductive success (“Polishing of the Ivory”). The poaching of elephants in Africa affects both the elephants and the world around