Headache, confusion, and dizziness are the immediate signs. As the molecules bind to the oxygen receptors in your cells, your body loses the ability to use the breath you breathe in. You suffocate, despite the fact that you are still sucking in air (Helmenstine). Without immediate medical care, you lose consciousness and die. These are the effects of cyanide poisoning, a commonly used poison by poachers in Africa. In 2013, a mass slaughtering of 300 elephants by cyanide took place in Zimbabwe (Gaffey), and more and more incidents are occurring every day. At the heart of this problem is government corruption and its ineffectiveness when dealing with the issue at hand.
Between 20,000 and 30,000 elephants die every year: equivalent to about one elephant death every 20 minutes (Veterans). In the last hundred years, elephant populations all across Africa have dropped by approximately ninety-six percent (Cruise). At this rate, elephants, who are currently on the threatened species list (Veterans), will be extinct within the next century, all for their tusks that are made into superficial goods like ornaments or “spiritual” teas (Gaffey). Despite last-resort laws being instituted in frequent poaching areas, such as the order given to park rangers to shoot-to-kill any poachers found on site (Guardian), the money made from selling the tusks on the black market is enough to make the poorest members of broken communities risk their lives for the potential gain of thousands of dollars. To save these creatures, poaching must be stopped. Yet, government corruption and ineffective “solutions” stand in the way of ever seeing the end of this issue.
Poaching exists because the forces at work, whose job it is to stop this atrocity, are not doing their job. This includes lazy government employees who are supposed to be signing bills, export officers that turn a blind eye, and failing laws that are not fully imposed by corrupt police (Oniango). Efforts to corral the markets inevitably fail as cartels use threats or bribes to continue selling (Oniango); the fact is, these “government crackdowns” never work because much of the government is not actually willing to crack down on the issue. Corruption runs rampant through low to high branches of governments ruling over poaching areas, and with no authority figure taking charge of the issue, poaching will remain a problem.
A proposed solution is trophy hunting, which is when select animals are chosen to be hunted for huge amounts of money. This revenue is intended to go to the communities so that poverty decreases and poaching is no longer needed to make money for these poor people (Cruise). However, so far this has failed because the income from Trophy Hunting goes directly into the pockets of corrupt officials instead (Cruise). Once again, corruption is at the heart of the issue. The stolen money cannot do its job to fix poaching, therefore trophy hunting is really only creating more deaths. A proper solution needs to be both found and correctly implemented before poaching will stop.
Thousands of elephants are dying every year due to something that could have been stopped long ago. What is being done to solve this issue is not only failing but, in some cases, making the problem worse. A better solution needs to be found before poaching can stop; until then, elephant populations will continue to go down and the corruption soaked into every branch of government will only deepen.
Between 20,000 and 30,000 elephants die every year: equivalent to about one elephant death every 20 minutes (Veterans). In the last hundred years, elephant populations all across Africa have dropped by approximately ninety-six percent (Cruise). At this rate, elephants, who are currently on the threatened species list (Veterans), will be extinct within the next century, all for their tusks that are made into superficial goods like ornaments or “spiritual” teas (Gaffey). Despite last-resort laws being instituted in frequent poaching areas, such as the order given to park rangers to shoot-to-kill any poachers found on site (Guardian), the money made from selling the tusks on the black market is enough to make the poorest members of broken communities risk their lives for the potential gain of thousands of dollars. To save these creatures, poaching must be stopped. Yet, government corruption and ineffective “solutions” stand in the way of ever seeing the end of this issue.
Poaching exists because the forces at work, whose job it is to stop this atrocity, are not doing their job. This includes lazy government employees who are supposed to be signing bills, export officers that turn a blind eye, and failing laws that are not fully imposed by corrupt police (Oniango). Efforts to corral the markets inevitably fail as cartels use threats or bribes to continue selling (Oniango); the fact is, these “government crackdowns” never work because much of the government is not actually willing to crack down on the issue. Corruption runs rampant through low to high branches of governments ruling over poaching areas, and with no authority figure taking charge of the issue, poaching will remain a problem.
A proposed solution is trophy hunting, which is when select animals are chosen to be hunted for huge amounts of money. This revenue is intended to go to the communities so that poverty decreases and poaching is no longer needed to make money for these poor people (Cruise). However, so far this has failed because the income from Trophy Hunting goes directly into the pockets of corrupt officials instead (Cruise). Once again, corruption is at the heart of the issue. The stolen money cannot do its job to fix poaching, therefore trophy hunting is really only creating more deaths. A proper solution needs to be both found and correctly implemented before poaching will stop.
Thousands of elephants are dying every year due to something that could have been stopped long ago. What is being done to solve this issue is not only failing but, in some cases, making the problem worse. A better solution needs to be found before poaching can stop; until then, elephant populations will continue to go down and the corruption soaked into every branch of government will only deepen.
Works Cited:
“African Elephant.” Veterans 4 Wildlife, Armed Forces Covenant, www.veterans4wildlife.org/elephant-poaching.
Cruise, Adam. “Is Trophy Hunting Helping Save African Elephants?” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 23 Jan. 2018, news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151715-conservation-trophy-hunting-elephants-tusks-poaching-zimbabwe-namibia/.
--. “Ten More Elephants Poisoned by Poachers in Zimbabwe.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 20 June 2017, www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/20/ten-more-elephants-poisoned-by-poachers-in-zimbabwe.
Gaffey, Conor. “Poachers Have Killed 10 Elephants in Zimbabwe with Poison, Hacking off Their Tusks.” Newsweek, Newsweek Media Group, 20 June 2017, www.newsweek.com/elephant-poaching-zimbabwe-ivory-trade-hwange-national-park-627450.
Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "How Does Cyanide Kill? Chemistry of Cyanide Poisoning." ThoughtCo, Jul. 1, 2017, thoughtco.com/overview-of-cyanide-poison-609287.
Oniango, Maurice, and Andrew Ochieng. “Corruption and Poaching: The Tusk At Hand.” Africa.com, Africa.com Media Group, 18 Aug. 2017, www.africa.com/corruption-poaching-tusk-hand/.
“African Elephant.” Veterans 4 Wildlife, Armed Forces Covenant, www.veterans4wildlife.org/elephant-poaching.
Cruise, Adam. “Is Trophy Hunting Helping Save African Elephants?” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 23 Jan. 2018, news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151715-conservation-trophy-hunting-elephants-tusks-poaching-zimbabwe-namibia/.
--. “Ten More Elephants Poisoned by Poachers in Zimbabwe.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 20 June 2017, www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/20/ten-more-elephants-poisoned-by-poachers-in-zimbabwe.
Gaffey, Conor. “Poachers Have Killed 10 Elephants in Zimbabwe with Poison, Hacking off Their Tusks.” Newsweek, Newsweek Media Group, 20 June 2017, www.newsweek.com/elephant-poaching-zimbabwe-ivory-trade-hwange-national-park-627450.
Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "How Does Cyanide Kill? Chemistry of Cyanide Poisoning." ThoughtCo, Jul. 1, 2017, thoughtco.com/overview-of-cyanide-poison-609287.
Oniango, Maurice, and Andrew Ochieng. “Corruption and Poaching: The Tusk At Hand.” Africa.com, Africa.com Media Group, 18 Aug. 2017, www.africa.com/corruption-poaching-tusk-hand/.
My favorite part of this article was the introduction; it was creative, engaging, and made me want to keep reading to see where the rest of the article was going. My main take-away was that poaching elephants in Africa is quickly becoming a serious issue that will result in the extinction of a species, and many proposed solutions aren't working out due to corruption within the government. My follow-up would be, what can anyone do about the issue? It comes down to corrupt government officials, so is there any way to stop that? Is anything happening to stop that?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of this article was the introduction. I liked how you connected your ideas to the main topic of the article itself. My main take-away was that the poaching of elephants needed to be stopped due to the fact that it could lead to the extinction of the entire species. My follow-up question is: What organizations, if any, have been started to prevent the poaching of elephants?
ReplyDelete