1. Saving African Elephants

2. Elephant Taxonomy Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Family: Elephantidae

3. Types of Elephants
African Elephant
Asian Elephant

4. What Are the Differences Between African and Asian Elephants?

5. African Elephant Heaviest animal on land
Males are heavier than females (weight is 5,000-14,000 lbs.)
Second tallest in the animal kingdom (Height is ~12-14 ft.)
Height of the shoulders are around 8.2 – 13 ft.

6. Subspecies of African Elephant
Savanna Elephant
(Loxodonta africana africana)
Forest Elephant
(Loxodonta africana cyclotis)

7. Distribution of African Elephant

8. Life cycle of African Elephant

9. Diet

10. African Elephant: Characteristics

11. Elephant Poaching

12. Africa’s Most Notorious Areas for Poaching
Mainly in Central Africa.
Kenya
Tanzania
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Zambia
Central African Republic.

13. Who is Doing the Poaching?
Poachers come from all over Africa.
The military in some nations.
The wealthy from all over the world for sport.
Even anti-poaching guards, or rangers, have been accused of poaching.

14. Why Are They Being Poached?
Tusks, Meat, and Skin.
Mostly for their tusks.
Ivory is used to make a variety of products for our entertainment, beliefs, convenience, and even alternative medicine (e.g. Traditional Chinese medicine).

15. Ivory-Based Products

16. More Ivory-Based Products

17. Ivory-Based Products
1.4 tons of tusks confiscated for Chinese medicine

18. "Ivory Removes Bad Spirits"
Religious icons in a Filipino home
In Cebu the word for ivory, garing, also means "religious statue.“
"To be respectful of the Buddha, one should use precious material.
If not ivory then gold. But ivory is more precious."

19. What is the Incentive? It’s all about the money.
Tusks are “White gold”.
Black market prices increased from $200/kg to $850/kg in the past 4 years.
It’s all being fueled by China’s economic boom.
In December of 2011, the largest seizure was in Kenya, where a 2,575-kilogram shipment of 727 pieces of ivory was discovered in a shipping container en route to Asia.
Other large seizures included a 1,100-kilogram shipment in Vietnam and a 2,234-kilogram shipment in China.

20. Incentive
$200/kg to $850/kg
A tusk can weigh over 130 pounds (60 kg) each.
$200 x 60 = $12,000 and $850 x 60 = $51,000
From $12,000 to $51,000.
That’s a $39,000 jump in the black market (assuming one were to buy an entire tusk at 60 kg).
1lb = 0.45 kg
2.20 lb = 1 kg

21. Elephant Numbers Are Dropping
African elephant population went from 1.3 million to ~625,000 (since the 1970s).
In 2006, 3,000 elephants were believed to live in southeastern Chad. Two years later only 1,000 were left. A short while after that, only 500 remained.
The Kenya Wildlife Service declared that 20,000 elephants are killed every year.

23. Elephant Numbers Are Dropping
In Garamba National Park (northeastern corner of DRC), has had major problems.
At one point, they had over 20,000 elephants.
Last year there were around 2,800.
This past year, only about 2,400 remain.
A 2009 report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare estimated that more than 100 African elephants are killed every day.
IUCN Redlist Status: Vulnerable

24. What is Being Done to Prevent Poaching?
Protecting and managing natural habitats.
Allowing a legal ivory trade system with strict, limited regulations (CITES). Although, some disagree with this.
More funding to help aid rangers.
The organization Save the Elephants has been involved in developing a viable alternative to the sport hunting of elephants.
Pressure world leaders to increase their focus on combating the problem.
Reduce conflict between human and elephant populations.

25. What is Being Done?
In southern Africa, four countries (Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa) have been doing a great job in their conservation efforts.
In these nations, the populations are increasing beyond the caring capacity of the habitat.

26. Why Are Elephants so Important?
The presence of African elephants helps to maintain suitable habitats for a myriad of other species.
In central African forests, up to 30 percent of tree species may require elephants to help with dispersal and germination.
They play a pivotal role in shaping their habitat because of the enormous impact they have on factors ranging from fresh water to forest cover.

29. What Can You Do? Stop purchasing ivory goods!
Contact your senator and U.S. State Department about importation of ivory goods.
Donate to legitimate foundations.
Come to our art auction and… Spread the word!

30. WSU Elephant Art Auction
Union Building Nov :30am -3:00 pm