Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Elephants: Not out of the jungle yet

Poaching resurges

Several times, we've thought we were en route to eradicating elephant poaching, thanks to law enforcement and restrictions on trafficking ivory.  But in Africa, especially Central Africa, it's back.  2011 might have been the worst year ever, with thousands of elephants dying - and in early 2012, hundreds were killed by a single gang in a single episode. China and Thailand, the biggest markets, have failed to enforce laws. 
COMMENT: What can we do? We can give/encourage aid to programs protecting elephants in their habitat, public and private. We can't let this happen.  We can't let the world's biggest land animal be reduced to a handful of zoo specimens.  Go to a zoo sometimes and take a good look.  If you haven't seen a live epephant in a while you'll be awed.

No comments: