Dead elephants

[Uben]

Watching CNN, I saw a segment on poachers killing African elephants for their tusks on wildlife reserves. The numbers were alarming!
Now, I'm no whiz on elephants or law enforcement of poachers, but why in the hell don't the rangers tranquilize these elephants, saw off their tusks, and release them? Poachers only want the ivory, so take that away, and voila!, no more poaching! We have to make an effort to save these animals, and if sawing off their tusks would solve the problem, why the hell don't they do it?

I may be missing something here, but sounds logical to me. Thoughts?

[EstimatedProphet]

1. Because they have the tusks for a reason

They don't grow back, and a toothless elephant in the wild is not going to do very well.

[Uben]

3. Tusks and teeth are different

They chew with teeth, tusks are for defense, but ivory does not repel bullets, unfortunately. It was just a thought. I don't see why they don't just shoot poachers on sight. I hate seeing species being eliminated, but, I guess it's gonna happen either way.

We seem techonologically capable of preventing these travesties, but no one seems to want to tackle it. I would look at some kind of chip implant that would signal when there was no heartbeat. Rangers could locate the carcass by GPS, and maybe get to the poachers before they were through. It would not save that elephants life, but it might prevent others from being killed.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

5. I don't think it will become enforced until people believe ivory-poaching is a threat to them.

Biodiversity is lovely, and I'd like to see the African elephant pull through. But in a part of the world where economic stability is not a given, people need something tangible to motivate them. Ideally, it would be nice to promote these reservations as hot tourist sites to wealthier nations. With the growth of tourism, villages and landowners around the reservations would be able to build up the local economy based on this tourism. And then they would be more likely to protect elephants from poaching, since the loss of elephants would mean the loss of income. I know it's cold way of looking at it, but I think it's the only realistic solution.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Not just defence

Tusks are used for digging, ripping of bark, foraging, resting a heavy trunk, and as weapons

http://elephant.elehost.com/About_Elephants/Anatomy/Dentition/dentition.html

[EstimatedProphet]

8. Yes. Tusks are not chewing teeth. They are for defense.

They defend themselves from other animals and other elephants with them. Removing them wouldn't be a good idea. It would make a bunch of defenseless elephants.

The best approach to stopping this is to take all profit out of the situation. CITES is an attempt to do just that, but needs to be strengthened.

[Uben]

15. Okay, then....

.....bury a transmitter into the tusks themselves. That way, if the poachers stole them, they could be tracked!

[EstimatedProphet]

20. The expense and labor involved make that impractical

Besides, the poachers would remove the transmitters before they took the ivory. Really, the most effective way to do something about this is to gear up prosecution for violating CITES. Unfortunately, there's a lot of countries that give public lip service to CITES, and no real support.

[dysfunctional press]

2. they tried putting the onus on those who would buy ivory products- but people are shit...

and there are still plenty of people willing to pay good money for it- and will continue to do so until the elephants are all gone.

however- i don't think that taking their tusks is the answer...
maybe poacher patrol with predator drones would be a good use for those things...:shrug:

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

4. They kinda need their tusks. For defense and stuff.

And something about it just doesn't sit well with me. I mean, granted, it's not on par with female circumcision to prevent lustful behavior, but still.

[DS1]

6. Arm the Rangers and let them hunt poachers

Does that count as Peace Corps activity?

[Greyhound]

12. Even better, set a perimeter around the preserve and sell a license to

go in and whack anything on two legs. Solves three problems at once.

[DS1]

17. I wouldn't pay to do that, but

I'd have no problem killing a man about to butcher an elephant for its tusks.

[petronius]

19. That sounds emotionally satisfying, but I suspect that the kind of person who would pay

to whack two-legged critters would be equally eager to blow away four-legged critters (and anything else that moved). The solution would become worse than the problem...

[flvegan]

9. Anti-poaching funds have been dramatically cut back in the last couple years.

They actually had a good effort in stopping poaching several years ago. In the 90's a group of conservationists all but wiped out poaching in some regions by physically destroying the camps of the poachers and chasing them off.

Unfortunately, though it's illegal to kill elephants for their ivory, demand for it in Japan and China is high. Where there's money, there's a way.

I don't think that the proper way to solve this problem is to remove the tusks. They need to fund the programs to fight the poachers.

[Zuiderelle]

11. Not to mention that the whole process of tranquilizing and removing tusks would cost just as much or

more than properly funding anti-poaching efforts that work simply by destroying camps of poachers and driving them off.

Why did I read this thread? I'll never get these precious minutes back. :cry:

[originalpckelly]

10. I don't know why they don't look for dead elephants...

tusks are bone aren't they? Wouldn't that survive even decomposition?

[tuckessee]

13. It would be easier and more humane to simply kill the poachers.

Someone should start safari tours where they hunt poachers.

[PeaceNikki]

14. Why don't the poachers just pay the elephants with peanuts to drop their tusks?

Tranquilizers can be dangerous.

[margotb822]

16. I thought this was going to be about Republicans

and how they're a dying breed.

[LeftyMom]

18. I have an antique umbrella stand made from a congressman's foot.