New report into saving our elephants

A new report estimates that poachers killed 20,000 African elephants in 2013. The world is now losing more elephants than the population can reproduce.

The report was issued by The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Leigh Henry, senior policy advisor of wildlife conservation and advocacy for the World Wildlife Fund in Washington, says the reasons for increased poaching are simple: the profits to be made from illegal ivory trade are high — and the risks are minimal.
Back in the 1980s, countries around the world cracked down on poaching and the illegal ivory trade. Now, the value of ivory has gone up dramatically and with it the pace of illegal poaching and ivory trafficking.
“The consumer markets, like China and Thailand, have more disposable income and more wealth than they did back in the 1980s, and higher prices are now being sought for ivory products,” Henry explains. “So now we’re seeing international criminal gangs coming in and poaching.”
These groups have resources like helicopters and night vision goggles; they have veterinary tranquilizers to put down the animals, which is easier than using bullets; and they have access to trafficking networks that also deal in drugs, arms and other commodities. What’s more, Henry says, they know how to shift trafficking routes when needed.

“When enforcement is increased in one port, they simply shift to another port,” Henry says. “So it's a really difficult nut to crack.”

The absence of significant penalties is also a huge part of the problem, Henry says. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), its partners and the US government have been working for the past few years to ensure that wildlife trafficking is viewed as a serious crime with commensurate penalties. Henry says this means increasing prison sentences to a minimum of four years and greatly increasing fines so that poachers and the traffickers find that the risks outweigh the benefits.
Right now, all the countries in the African elephant range are being hit by poachers, Henry says. There are hot spots, like central Africa, where forest elephants are in the greatest peril, she says, but the problem encompasses the continent.