Hunting and Poaching

One of the most challenging problems that elephants have had to face is hunting and poaching for their highly coveted ivory tusks. Elephant ivory has been exported from Asia and Africa since the 14th century B.C. Their ivory tusks would be used for displays of wealth, and in the modern era, as piano keys and billiard balls. Northern Africa was wiped clean of elephants due to ivory hunters nearly 1,000 years ago. It is believed that at the peak of the Ivory Trade, nearly 800 to 1,000 tons of elephant ivory was exported to Europe alone. The World Wars caused a major decrease in the ivory trade, but there was a resurgence in the early 1970's. Japan consumed nearly 40% of the global trade, while Europe and North America consumed another 40%. 

The African Elephant population was estimated to be 1.3 million in 1979, but due to ivory poaching and only 10 years later, the population was reduced to nearly 600,000. Roughly 75,000 elephants would be killed annually for the ivory trade generating nearly 1 billion dollars. Fortunately, organizations such as CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) established a limit to how many elephants could be killed for the ivory trade, greatly reducing the risk of endangerment. In 1990, CITES declared the international ivory trade to be banned. Eventually by the late 1990's, ivory trade was again allowed but limited and immensely controlled. 

Like the African Elephant, the Asian Elephant was put on Appendix One of the CITES in 1975. By the late 1980's it was believed that there was only 50,000 Asian Elephants remaining. Although it is banned, the Asian elephant species is still in danger from the ivory trade. 

Currently there is a major problem with poaching from China and Japan. In 2008, these countries made a purchase of 108 tons from certain regions of Africa. There is a lack of control over the ivory trade in China, and it was reported that at one time a Chinese document leaked reporting over 121 tons (tusks from roughly 11,000 elephants) could not be accounted for. 

Some African countries oppose the bans on international ivory trade, and poach still does exist. It is a major problem that the remaining species of Elephant have to face. Life alone in the African and Asian wild are challenging enough with the scarcity of water and food, but if poaching elephants for ivory persists, the species will be in great endangerment. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory_trade

http://www1.american.edu/ted/elephant.htm