Eye Of The Elephant Ethical Dilemmas

Zambia, Africa is a different environment than what Americans are accustom. The natives portrayed in the Eye of the Elephant are rationing their portions every day. They do not have a McDonald’s right down the street or the convenience of a grocery store on multiple corners. What they have is the Black Market. The Black Market can sell anything from ivory to leopard fur but it is all done illegally. Mark and Delia have to deal with these problems in their own way. A major problem in the book the Owenses must deal with is the African ethical principles. In reality, the native Zambians just don’t have any. Not to say it is their fault but a direct result of the environmental circumstances in which they develop. They will kill anything in their …show more content…
Starting with the younger generation, he tries to show the African community that the wildlife is worth more alive. Much more than the small amount of money received from killing them. He tries to use toys to show the kids that they must learn to conserve their resources in order to sustain themselves. He gives the kids of the local villages toy-like lions and tries to convince them that their grandparents lived well off the same land. Mark and Delia offer sewing machines, grain mills, soccer balls, and jobs in exchange for promises to stop poaching and information on the worst of the bandits. Due to overkill, the land that was once abundant with animals is now in as state of …show more content…
The women cook and clean while the men hunt. It is the woman who tell the men to catch their next meal. The men hunt every and anything for the sake of their families. The poachers are doing the same but they are doing it strictly to make a living. Between seventy-five thousand and one hundred thousand elephants have been poached in the Luangwa Valley as a whole; that's roughly one for every word in this book,” Mark explains. Each kill earning the poachers “kwakas” for every animal they slaughter. Politics is a very serious issue in North Luangwa. Mark and Delia find out the villagers are paid to be “carriers” for the main poachers. Meaning they help transport the dead caucus to be sold. The corruption doesn't stop there. The game guards are helping the poachers by providing them with military guns; as well as helping them on their voyages to kill animals. Even one of the head officials was corrupt and was eventually transferred to another park. This political corruption is normal and runs very