ELEPHANTS & IVORY

© IFAW/J He/Xishuangbanna, China
Modern elephants are the only surviving members
of the ancient mammalian order Proboscidea.
Proboscideans originated in the Cenozoic Era, some
60 million years ago. 1 Once a diverse group of large
herbivores, with at least 175 species and subspecies
belonging to 42 genera and ten families described in
the fossil record, 2 they spread to all parts of the planet,
except for Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. 3
Today, only three recognized species remain. They are
restricted to parts of Africa and Asia and represent the
largest of all living terrestrial mammals.
The remaining wild elephants are under
ever increasing threat, largely because of
human activities. These activities, which have
dramatically reduced the distribution and numbers
of elephants throughout past centuries, include:
habitat fragmentation, deterioration, and loss; the
poaching of animals (mainly for their tusks) to feed
a seemingly insatiable demand for ivory in the
marketplace; confinement in nature reserves and
on private property; and the removal of animals
from the wild to populate zoos and circuses, and
to provide beasts of burden and animals for use in
traditional cultural ceremonies. 4 Without significant
changes in human behaviour, it seems unlikely that
this once successful group of mammals will survive
much longer. 5
At this stage in the 21st Century, poaching and
illegal commercial trade represent the most visible
threats to elephants in the wild. But that narrow
view overlooks an overarching threat: the continued
existence of legal commercial markets for elephant
ivory at both national and international scales. It is
the very existence of such markets that provides the
incentive for poaching and illegal trade. As Frederick
Vreeland quietly observed almost a century ago, 6
“
As long as there are dealers in game you
will find men who will kill it in spite of
anything you may do to the contrary.
”
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