Recently, there was a article about why Vultures get killed in Africa (it has to do with ivory also)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/28/opinion/the-poisoning-of-a...
Yao Ming aims to save Africa's elephants by persuading China to give up ivory
21–30 of 42 posts
Re: Yao Ming aims to save Africa's elephants by persuading China to give up ivory
#22I may be about to say something stupid, but couldn't we preemptively cut out the tusks from wild elephants so that there would be no point in poaching them? Are tusks necessary for elephants to cut through the bush? I see elephants who don't have tusks in documentaries all the time, so I'm wondering. And even if tusks are necessary, maybe we could replace the originals with prosthesis (of a different color) -- certai…
> I may be about to say something stupid, but couldn't we preemptively cut out the tusks from wild elephants so that there would be no point in poaching them? De-horning programs were started for rhinos in the 90s following that idea, which theoretically held up (despite being a risk to the animal, you have to put him to sleep which may kill him, and de-horning remains traumatic). De-horned rhinos still got poached:…
Many thanks for this answer and link; very enlightening.
If I understand the article correctly, it seems de-horned rhinos are poached mostly because poachers don't see the rhino has lost its horns, and they kill it then because
1) they're furious when they find out
2) they don't want to waste more time hunting it again
If this is true it would probably be less of a problem for elephants as their tusks (or absence thereof) are more visible.
It still sounds like a horrible procedure, but I don't think trying to curb demand will ever be effective -- or maybe in the very long run, when there are no elephants left.
Re: Yao Ming aims to save Africa's elephants by persuading China to give up ivory
#23So happy to see Yao using his influence for good. I think Chinese consumption of shark fin and ivory are more habits than desire. Habits can change through education.
Tiger's are another issue - a big reason for the decrease in India's tiger population is that the demand from China is so overwhelming; apparently a tiger's gonads are considered a valuable aphrodisiac. This kind of insanity has to stop before the animal is extinct.
Re: Yao Ming aims to save Africa's elephants by persuading China to give up ivory
#24You guys should consider donating to the International Anti-Poaching Foundation[0][1] which fights these poachers. The founder, Damien Mander[2], is an Australian ex spec-ops sniper who is using his military experience to train the park rangers since they, unlike the poachers, tend to be poorly equipped and trained as well as understaffed. There is also the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust[3][4] which takes care of ele…
We are sorry to inform you that your little fella is dead.
Where did you see that?
I was going to donate tonight when I got home ..
Re: Yao Ming aims to save Africa's elephants by persuading China to give up ivory
#25So happy to see Yao using his influence for good. I think Chinese consumption of shark fin and ivory are more habits than desire. Habits can change through education.
Tiger's are another issue - a big reason for the decrease in India's tiger population is that the demand from China is so overwhelming; apparently a tiger's gonads are considered a valuable aphrodisiac. This kind of insanity has to stop before the animal is extinct.
The pangolin situation is much more dire (warning, may trigger sadness, furor and extreme misanthropy):
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/201...
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/201...
http://www.popsci.com/article/science/pangolin-smuggling-sho...
http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2014/04/opinion/sutter-ch...
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/201...
Re: Yao Ming aims to save Africa's elephants by persuading China to give up ivory
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another factor besides habit and status: perhaps Chinese culture is simply more accepting of animal cruelty?
"Western culture" has very similar (and extant wrt sturgeons amongst others if mostly curbed when it comes to mammals) issues, Chinese weren't the ones slaughtering charismatic megafauna for fun and status symbols in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
News flash: every culture has barbaric ghosts in its past. It's what we do here and now that matters.
Re: Yao Ming aims to save Africa's elephants by persuading China to give up ivory
#27You guys should consider donating to the International Anti-Poaching Foundation[0][1] which fights these poachers. The founder, Damien Mander[2], is an Australian ex spec-ops sniper who is using his military experience to train the park rangers since they, unlike the poachers, tend to be poorly equipped and trained as well as understaffed. There is also the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust[3][4] which takes care of ele…
We are sorry to inform you that your little fella is dead.
I find no validation of that: http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/orphan_profile.asp...
Re: Yao Ming aims to save Africa's elephants by persuading China to give up ivory
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tiger's are another issue - a big reason for the decrease in India's tiger population is that the demand from China is so overwhelming; apparently a tiger's gonads are considered a valuable aphrodisiac. This kind of insanity has to stop before the animal is extinct.
The pangolin situation is much more dire (warning, may trigger sadness, furor and extreme misanthropy): http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/201... http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/201... http://www.popsci.com/article/science/pangolin-smuggling-sho... http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2014/04/opinion/sutter-ch... http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/201…
Agreed. There are people doing good work in this area, but if we've learnt one lesson, its that the economic gravity tends to win out. In the drug war (not a perfect analogy by any means), as long as US consumer demand exists, people will find a way to provide it. In China, unless you can shape the underlying demand for poached materials in some form (and be more successful than the US has been on drugs), it's going to persist, especially as that country continues to grow richer.
Re: Yao Ming aims to save Africa's elephants by persuading China to give up ivory
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Western culture" has very similar (and extant wrt sturgeons amongst others if mostly curbed when it comes to mammals) issues, Chinese weren't the ones slaughtering charismatic megafauna for fun and status symbols in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
News flash: every culture has barbaric ghosts in its past. It's what we do here and now that matters.
News flash: "western culture" is still dynamiting endangered sturgeons (and other roe-producing species passing their roe as caviar[0])
[0] https://medium.com/full-belly-reports/every-spring-game-ward...
Re: Yao Ming aims to save Africa's elephants by persuading China to give up ivory
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
We are sorry to inform you that your little fella is dead.
I find no validation of that: http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/orphan_profile.asp...
I am not sure, but I think he was joking. It is a risk which may affect donations but it might be worth it.