Many problems throughout the world go unheard of and unnoticed until there is no longer anything that can fix the issue. Illegal ivory poaching has been a severe issue since the middle of the 1900s. Illegal Ivory poaching has a negative correlation on the sub-Saharan African elephant population as ivory is natural substance found within the tusk of an elephant (Strauss). There is a strong relationship present as "Demand rises, price goes up, and the costs poachers and smugglers are willing to endure increase in sync” producing a negative effect on the African elephant population (Rosen). The demand for ivory stems from countries throughout Asia. Ivory is used to make various decorative pieces, as well as jewelry. Ivory is sought after for its “allure of ‘white gold’” representing one’s social status throughout Asia (Strauss). The issue that follows illegal ivory trade has been present for more than half a century without any positive change. There are several factors on illegal ivory poaching has yet to be abolished as a whole: economic income, humans as a natural predator, hunting wildlife as a whole, and unsuccessful bans against ivory trade.

 “Illegal Killing for Ivory Drives Global Decline in African Elephants” is a study that analyzes the relationship between the illegal trade of ivory and the declination of the elephant species (Wittemyer). The sub-Saharan African elephant population has been at a decreasing rate due to the constant increase of demand for ivory. As the demand for ivory increases so does the price making it more desirable for poachers, “as much as 80% of the ivory on the world market in any given year is believed to be acquired illegally” due to the black market in Asia (Wittemyer). One of the main driving factors behind poaching is the economic income that poachers will obtain. Poachers are stimulated by the demand for ivory as “the demand for ivory has surged to the point that the tusks of a single adult elephant can be worth more than 10 times the average annual income in many African countries” which is why poachers are willing to outweigh the risk for the economic income (Rosen).  A case study took place that describes the relationships among the demand for ivory, the price of ivory, and the elephant population. Illegal Trade in Wildlife provides the audience with a section called Case Study: Tracing the African Ivory Trade that makes a claim stating the demand of ivory has an effect on the relationship between the elephant population and prices of ivory. As the demand of ivory increases the elephant population decreases producing an increase in the price of ivory, “In the 1970s the population was roughly 1.2 million and the price of ivory was $100 per kilogram, whereas the population in 2009 was less than 500,000 and prices were as much as $900 per kilogram” appealing to poachers as the economic income is the driving factor behind ivory poaching. The greater the price of ivory, the greater the income for poachers, and the greater the risk they are willing to take. 

Throughout sub-Saharan African countries wildlife and human coexistence is a major environmental factor. With the sub-Saharan African elephant being drastically affected by poaching there is an urgency in figuring out a way to protect what is left of the population. A study was conducted in attempt to look at how the sub-Sharan African elephant “navigates their physical and social worlds” in retrospect to humans (Plotnik).  As argued in “Extraordinary Elephant Perception” elephants are able to recognize humans through sounds and smells as a result of coexisting. The study concluded elephants have adapted to humans as a natural predator by looking at how wild African elephants in Amboseli National Park located in Kenya, “reacted to potential threats posed by two different human ethnic groups” (Plotnik).  The elephants would retreat and bunch together as a defense mechanism to the different tones of males within the different ethnic groups, supporting the argument that the elephant animal species has adapted its natural behavior to include humans as a natural predator (Plotnik). Although the two ethnic groups used in the study have no correlation to groups of poachers, it is an overall adaptation to humans as natural predators. With a better understanding of how elephants perceive the natural world it will increase the effectiveness in the measures taken to protect the sub-Saharan elephant population against illegal ivory poaching. 

Hunting big game animals, also known as trophy hunting, can be seen positive from some view points and negative in others, such as hunting for enjoyment vs. hunting for the economic income. Throughout Africa it is seen that trophy hunting in national parks is a mixture of both hunting for enjoyment by tourists and for the economic income. Trophy hunting is believed to create many incentives for the conservation of wild life in Africa, “the pros and cons of commercial sport hunting tourism of species at risk are debated principally in terms of local economic or ecological mechanisms” the risks are ultimately outweighed to increase the efforts to support the conservation of wildlife (Buckley). Contradictory to what is believed in respect for the revenue from trophy hunting, “Mixed Signals from Hunting Rare Wildlife” argues that sport hunting those species subject to poaching produces issues social and political issues resulting in conservation consequences. Two conservation consequences talked about in “Mixed Signals from Hunting Rare Wildlife” are the reduction of conservation donations due to the belief the money is subsidizing hunters and the government taking trophy hunting revenue for profit rather than use it in conservation efforts (Buckley). In light of revenues from trophy hunting not being used in the conservation of wildlife, Tanzania and Zimbabwe placed a “suspension on imports of sport-hunted African elephant trophies taken in Tanzania and Zimbabwe” to stop trophy hunting (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). Although this ban can be seen as a positive action, it has resulted in uncontrolled poaching and catastrophic population declines of African elephants in Tanzania with a similar situation in Zimbabwe (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). As the revenues from trophy hunting did not produce a positive effect on the conservation of the sub-Saharan elephant there is even a greater decline in the population from the elephants sacrificed for revenues and those lost from illegal ivory poaching. 

In similar light, Bans against ivory trade have been set in place since the early 1900s, yet have not made a strong impact on illegal ivory trade. A specific example that focuses on the issues that follow legal troubles with ivory poaching can be seen as talked about in “Organized Poaching in Kitui District: A Failure in District Authority 1900 to 1960”. Throughout the 1900s the Kitui District in Kenya struggled with abiding by the laws of ivory poaching, as they were unable to stop illegal ivory poaching and the illegal trade of ivory (Stone). The Kitui Kamba group, the dominant group within the Kitui District, hunted for the economic income ivory that was gained after being sold to Asians living on the coast. For 60 years the Kitui district government was unable to stop illegal trade of ivory, “district officials failed to study the nature of organized poaching in regard to its economic roots (Stone).  “Organized poaching grew from a mere nuisance to a complex problem in organized crime, and unable to cope with it, British authorities passed it on to their African successors” which can still be seen as a continuum in the 21st society as the issue keeps getting handed down to the next generation (Booth). This is not to say that only the Kitui District was the only area that struggled with following the bans of illegal ivory poaching and trade during this time period, yet this gives insight as to how one specific area can effect ivory poaching and the elephant population drastically. “Elephant Treaties: The Colonial Legacy of the Biodiversity Crisis” focuses on the claim that “today’s biodiversity crisis is rooted in European colonial history, especially in conservation treaties that colonial powers negotiated to protect Africa’s big game animals (Adam). It argues the faults in CITES “an extension of colonial hunting and trade agreements designed in particular to ensure an abundance of African elephants for the ivory trade” as a main focus as to why the elephant population is declining (Adam).  The legal aspect that follows illegal ivory trade has been a major factor in the declination of the Sub-Saharan African elephant since the late 1800s, “poaching… did cause the eradication of many game animals, notably rhinoceros and elephants” producing long term affects which are still present in the twenty-first century (Stone). 

In hopes to put an end to all illegal ivory poaching and trade in order to save the sub-Saharan African elephant drastic measures need to be taken. The recent article “China Bans Its Ivory Trade, Moving Against Elephant Poaching” in the New York Times announces a step in the right direction for the ban of ivory trade. China announced on December 30, 2016 that the country will enforce a ban of ivory will by the end of 2017. This would be a huge deal as “it would shut down the world’s largest ivory market” as well as aid in the protection of African elephants (Wong and Gettleman).  As stated in the NY Times article, China acquires more than 50% to 70% of all smuggled elephant ivory on the black market to produce goods. The ivory ban will produce a positive effect on the African elephant population as there has been more than 100,000 elephants slaughtered in the last 10 years in the sub-Saharan region due to high ivory demand.  “Kenya’s new front in poaching battle: ‘the future is in the hands of our communities” helps see the root of ivory poaching with help of an understanding of a personal account of Abdi Ali a poacher from northern Kenya who became a full-time poacher at the young age of 14 (Vaughan). The future of the elephant population and illegal ivory poaching is in the hands of African communities, as members of the community are “a major factor in the network of organized crime that is destroying Africa’s wildlife” (Vaughn). In April of 2016, Kenya burned the largest ever ivory stock pile highlighting elephants’ fate, highlighting “a new wildlife law that can inflict a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for poachers” (Vaughn) starting at the root of the problem those physically in the act of the poaching- members of African communities. As media begins to increase awareness to the horror of illegal ivory poaching and the effect it has on the decrease of the sub-Saharan African elephant and the more light brought to this epidemic will produce more efforts to ban illegal ivory poaching. 

Illegal ivory poaching has had a direct effect on the decrease in the sub-Saharan African elephant population through several factors. Efforts to abolish ivory poaching have been made as early as the 1900s as seen by the Kitui district government, yet failed to find the root of the problem. Although, these efforts came within the sub-Saharan African countries in attempts to stop poaching where failed as there were not enough efforts made by the government to reinforce the bans on illegal ivory poaching. Today, many countries outside of the African continent have made efforts to stop illegal ivory poaching by placing total bans in ivory trade such as the United States and China, two of the world’s largest ivory markets. All possible efforts in the future need to be taken to increase the conservation of the sub-Saharan elephant population before it’s too late. The issue of ivory poaching is in the hands of the world and if not acted upon soon consequences will have to be faced resulting in a loss of one of the world’s most magnificent species.  
