Asian Elephant

Elephant populations suffered a drop in numbers that carried the species into the endangered animals list. At the beginning of the twentieth century, about ten million elephants lived in Africa. Presently, the ten million is reduced to half a million because of illegal hunting and habitat loss. Studies of the population show twenty-two thousand were killed in 2012 and twenty-five thousand in 2011. When comparing the death rate to the natural population growth, there is a possibility the largest mammal on Earth could be extinct soon (Vaughan 1). Because the elephant is the largest animal to walk on land, the greatly increasing human population affects the elephant population first. They live in some regions of the world that have the densest human population which continues to grow, which therefore continuously decreases their own population (Bryner 1). As the human population swiftly increases, the elephant population in turn, decreases. This is so because they cannot cohabitate the same living space. Elephants and humans cannot cohabitate because they would kill each other due to the inability to communicate. About population recovery, the Animal wildlife foundation states, “Populations of elephants- especially in Southern and Eastern Africa- that once showed promising signs of recovery could be at risk due to the recent surge in poaching for the illegal ivory trade”(1). Poaching presents one of the main issues that make recovery so difficult for these animals.

The official title of the world’s largest land dwelling animal belongs to the elephant, more specifically, the African elephant. Elephants also are some of the most deadly animals, which therefore increase the danger of human and elephant interactions. The more human interactions occur, the more deaths result, whether it is the elephant or the human who dies. These animals, surprisingly, are socially apt; their trunk is used for more than just eating and drinking- it is used for socializing. They are complex animals who live in large familial herds-females stay with their family throughout their entire lives while males only stay for approximately fifteen years (Elephant Protection, 1). Elephants possess a great memory and only forget what they learn occasionally and rarely, giving way to the “an elephant never forgets” saying (Maloiy, 178c). Despite how many people use the beloved saying, elephants may not be around much longer due to the shortened life span and increased mortality rates. Due to their incisor teeth, tusks, being extremely expensive and profitable, they are being murdered for the wealth they carry. This, coupled with the life span shortening because of malicious treatments and brutal practices reduces the life span of the African elephant from 56 to 16 years and the Asian elephant from 42 to 19 years (Elephant Protection, 1). According to what the statistics show, elephants may be following their ancestors to their death. Of the group of mammals called

Adversaries believe that the extinction of elephants can hardly affect other species. In fact, African Elephants are essential to the survival of other animals who rely on specific conditions to live. Elephants have been proven to be crucial to the habitats of other animals. In the article “Endangered Species Can They Be Saved?”, It is reported that African elephants may not be the only ones in danger. Asian elephants’ habitats are disappearing as a result of the loss of African elephants (Allman, Schrof). The tusks of Asian elephants are normally too small to be recognized by poachers so the only reason they too are disappearing is because of the drop of their African brethren. It has been reported by activists that elephants create salt licks that are used by other animals (About the African Elephant). In the article “Endangered Species Can They Be Saved?”, it is reported that elephants open up grassland and clear the savanna for other grazers (Allman, Schrof). If elephants go extinct, these grazers will be losing their habitats and without elephants, it would take much longer to create them

Because of the poaching of game like the elephant, the number of species will start to diminish. What hunters brought to the villages of Botswana was the money and the meat from the animals to feed the many people that go hungry everyday. Hunters that would take animals such as an elephant wouldn’t take any of the meat for themselves but rather they give all of the meat to the villages in the area. However, when poaching starts to take over, there will be zero meat or money that will be put back into the community. Poachers that kill elephants are only after one thing and that is the ivory from the elephant tusks. After taking the tusks, the elephant is left to rot. Another animal that is sought after by poachers in Botswana is the rhino. The rhino is poached for their horns, which are supposedly an aphrodisiac in China so the demand is high. Because of these effects, groups like SCI are so important to different places around the world. The money brought in by the hunters is used to hire conservation officers to protect the rhinos and elephants and to buy land that will be put into game preserves so the numbers of these species will increase because there aren’t any pressures from hunting or

Keeping animals in a man made and man run site can make this impossible for these animals. Dr. Hone also states,”some of these collapses have been sudden, dramatic and unexpected or were simply discovered very late in the day.” Dr. Hone is expressing that when species go extinct, scientists do not realize it quick enough to do anything about it. If for some reason, elephants went extinct in the wild, we wouldn’t have a problem. If we see a species start to go extinct, we can also know how to help them and what with from the study of these animals as I explained in the second paragraph. In the Zoo, the animals will be fed correctly and will not be hunted by other

For about twenty eight years now the Asian elephant has been struggling for existence. They have been classified as endangered species by The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Twenty eight years is quite a large amount of time for an animal to be classified as endangered so The Zoological Society of London decided to look into this issue. Asian elephants have been transferred to captivity for quite some time in the North American region. The Elephas maximus have been captured from these countries in southern Asia and brought over to North America and have experienced many complications that can hinder the genetic diversity of the evolution of the species. Captive populations of the Elephas maximus species may be essential for genetic preservation and aid in decreasing the deterioration of the authentic population (Brenneman et al. 2011).

First, animals are not well taken care of. This is true because in a exception in China there was no sign of sleeping areas or like they have been fed recently. Also in the same inspection 53 % of the elephants had behavioral problems. Think about it, no food, no water and no sleeping areas.In the same inspection their was no sign of natural habitat. That is like waking up and somebody taking you to a place that have never seen before.In one zoo they refused to have a animal taken care of when it was sick.

Elephants are the biggest walking mammals in the world and they are mostly found in the African Savanna.As amazing as this animals are they are decreasing from population,which is caused by poaching.Elephant poaching was greatly use in the 1970's and were sold illegally throughout the countries.The government did something about it,they stop the selling of illegal ivory and decrease the elephant poaching which cause the elephant population to

1.1. The critical situation of elephant poaching is costing Africa millions in lost tourism income. Many tourists do not appreciate waiting in queues for their cars to be searched at the entrance. Seeing dead animals (such as elephants and rhinos) as a result of poaching, hearing gunshots and the sound of anti-poaching helicopter patrolling the area can scare the tourists and ruin the experience of visiting a nature reserve to reconnect with nature and this prevents tourists from returning. Elephants are one of the biggest wild animals so many tourists look forward to seeing them graze the land and even take a ride on their back.

African Elephants are the keystone species of the African environment. These elephants play a critical role by maintaining a balance for the other species in the environment. The African elephant’s role is that they pulled down trees and break up thorny bushes. By doing this, the elephants create grasslands for other animals to survive.

Almost all elephants face habitat loss. When they lose their habitats, they are forced to move to another area which can lead them to dying because they are not used to that certain habitat. Hotter and drier climates make it harder to forage or find food, and threatens calf survival.

This is a serious crime being committed by the black market that pays millions of dollars in trade of animal parts. It is a known fact animal parts are being sold as novelty items like jewelry and as a "medicinal" property mostly for Chinese medicine. Environmental groups or animal rights groups, are desperately trying to put a stop to these poachers because of the decline in animal wildlife and an increase in the ICUN Red List. The United States is only second to China for its desire for illegal wildlife parts either for medicine or personal desires. According to Orietta C. Estrada from the One Green Planet organization states that a number of rich poachers have killed over 30,000 elephants in the last year. It is a belief that elephants, mainly the African and Indian Elephant, will become extinct within the next ten years if poachers continue murdering the elephants at this rate (One Green

For example, the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita Kansas will be building a 4-acre enclosure for their elephants. (Cohn) The large amount of land will allow for more walking space which will help decrease health issues that occur in zoos. The people that do support zoos have a valid point when it comes to furthering their survival. In the wild, elephants are poached for their ivory, so when they are kept in captivity it eliminates poaching as a possible cause of death. In Cohn’s article he introduces Robert Hodge and he says,” Zoos are not great places for elephants, but they are better [there] than dead.” This is a very bitter sweet statement to which I agree with greatly for the sake of their lives. Keeping elephants in captivity allows for maintained breeding so we can assure their species will remain intact. Also in Cohn’s article he states that as many as 40 zoos are expanding their enclosures which will allow for more natural behaviors, this includes breeding, it will allow zoo visitors to see a true elephant group. There are good perspectives that zoos bring to animals in captivity, but it will never be natural or right.

Imagine yourself in Africa roaming the land along the country's most beloved inhabitant the African Elephant one of the most significant creatures which symbolizes strength and power. Now imagine yourself as an elephant running for your life because a couple poacher is trying to shoot you in the head just so they can get a hold of your beautiful ivory or tusk. The IUCN [International Union for Conservation of Nature] Red List is a list of precise criteria that evaluates the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies all over the world. It is also a powerful tool for pushing the government to protect threatened species like the African Elephant, and for most of the plant and animal wildlife worldwide. Blanc, J. one of the co-sponsors

Just imagine life without any elephants, wiped out just like the dinosaurs. In the early 1980’s, there were more than a million reported elephants in Africa. Tragically, during that decade, 600,000 elephants were destroyed for ivory products. Today, conceivably no more than 400,000 elephants remain across the continent. Elephants are facing a very real threat of extinction; In fact, the African elephants are listed on the