Essay --

Over the past decade it has been recorded that the elephant population has dropped by 62%. In 1977, 1.3 million elephants roamed the great plains of Africa. By 1997, only 60 thousand remained and by 2006, there were only 10 thousand wild elephants left in Africa. Unfortunately, these numbers are not getting any better. Today elephant poaching is illegal, but that is not stopping it from happening. Both African and Asian elephants are still being killed for their valuable tusks. The tusks of elephants are created of ivory. This has been an extremely valuable substance for years and killing elephants is one of the few ways people can obtain it. Money drives our world and our economy, so people will do a lot in order to get the money they want. That’s not the only cause of this epidemic, though. Not only do poachers want the elephant’s large tusks, but some hunters also consider elephants as a trophy animal. This means that people are killing elephants so they can bring t hem home and put their heads on display. It’s a way to gloat and illustrate their hunting skills. This pursuit of ivory and trophies by hunters is further damaging our ecosystem as well as the mental and emotional stability of elephants around the world. Research has now been able to help prove that elephants do not only suffer Physical damage from poaching, but they are also suffering from mental and emotional damage. After years of studying these enormous beauties, scientists have discovered that elephants are capable of complex thought and deep feeling of emotions, emotions being plural. Research has proven that elephants’ have a variety of emotions that they express during different times and situations in the wild. They react to events in a way that is so cl... ...a huge accomplishment to take down one of the biggest animals in the world. It illustrates the hunter’s strength, patience, and talent. Most trophy hunters would love to have an elephant to show. Hunts are usually supervised by a game warden. A technician also accompanies the hunters in order to make legal trophies, usually from the tusks and the feet. The meat of the elephants is disrupted among local people in the area. This helps decrease waste from the elephant and helps use more than just the ivory. In some regions of Africa, large game hunts may help to also generate more income to average and below average villages than conventional agriculture. This is usually due to the challenging environment for successful crop growth. Drought has recently been a growing cause of these poor conditions. It is affecting the people, and the animals in this habitat greatly.