Addressing Human-Elephant Conflict

African elephants are known as the largest land mammal on the planet. Of these African elephants there are two species, Savannah elephants and forest elephants, both of which are endangered. In Africa, these elephants are seen as ecosystem engineers, meaning they play a critical role in their communities’ ecological balance. Some of their contributions include providing fresh water access to cohabitors, distributing seeds throughout the land, and creating pathways for other smaller animals to travel freely. While their size is one of their most notable attributes, it is also something that can cause them harm.

Not only does their size aid in their effortless destruction of villages and crops,causing elephant-human conflict, but it also makes the elephants more easily recognizable to poachers. According to the National Geographic, poaching is the biggest threat to the african elephants survival, with as few as 400,000 African Elephants remaining today (compared to 1.3 million in 1970). These poachers kill elephants, remove their tusks, and sell said tusks through the ivory trade. Over the past two decades, many interventions have been put in place to prevent poaching, such as increased law enforcement and advanced technology; however, are we really eliminating the problem or simply placing a bandaid over it?

While there is such a thing as “hunting-for-sport”, many people involved in unethical animal cruelty and illegal poaching take on these jobs as a source of income. In 2017, the Conservation and Society Journal established poverty as the number one motive for poaching. Ivory dealers exploit marginalized individuals, families, and communities, by encouraging men to poach as a means to provide for their families amidst poverty.

How can we tackle these issues at their roots without leaving someone behind? This predicament is a good reminder that all life is connected. Understanding the interactions among them is critical to protecting the health of us all. ANAW and ANAW-USA seek to address a range of issues and topics pertaining to animal welfare, conservation, and human-animal relationships with the goal of ecological harmony and human-animal coexistence, always conscious of how the health of people and its connection to the health of animals, and our shared environment. We are all participants in our ecosystems, and every individual lifeform affects the balance of ecological systems. If any species is to die prematurely and/or unnaturally, their once shared ecosystem will suffer the consequences

To learn more about the issue of poaching watch this video of ANAW’s Research and Development Director, Kahindi Lekalhaile, speaking to the BBC about the issue in Botswana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aej2JFnUms8&t=424s...

If you want to support ANAW’s human-animal coexistence programs please visit our website to make a tax-deductible donation: https://www.anawusa.org/donate