I have another video today from Nat Geo, but this time it isn’t quite so fun. It is a short clip about the dangers that elephants now face as a species with the continued poaching of the animals for their ivory. According to this video, an average of 100 elephants are killed each day by poachers. Their tusks are then turned into good that are sold in Asia and the U.S. where ivory is still seen as an acceptable thing to own or give as a gift. At this rate, these amazing animals could be wiped out in our lifetimes, never to be seen again. That would be a tragedy of epic proportions.
Warning: there are a couple of graphic shots in this video. They may be hard for some people to see, but this is a topic that is near and dear to me, and I wanted to share this none the less.
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Thanks for posting this Kraig. As pointed out on the video the demand for ivory products needs to be reduced through educating people about where ivory actually comes from and the threat of extinction that elephants face. Many people also do not realise that elephants live in strongly bonded social groups and suffer from immense grief when their companions are killed. Additionally the poachers are barbaric in their killing methods and do not think twice about leaving the elephants to suffer in great pain when and after the poachers steal the tusks.
What I find most dismaying is that the United States is still on the list of ivory consuming countries. Its incredibly shameful that that hasn't changed by now.
Agreed that we need to eliminate the demand. Then there won't be a market for ivory at all.