Elephants are being poached in Botswana for the past couple months. The amount of illegal hunting of the animals has been increasing, due to the fact that their ivory tusks are able to be sold for large amounts of money.

Between 20,000 and 30,000 elephants have been killed each year, and around 100 are being killed each day. Despite the ban on international trade of ivory, elephants are still endangered. The increasing amount of poaching is driven by the demand in Asia, mostly for piano keys and other items for human enjoyment. This is causing a steep decline in the elephant population.

There are numerous bystanders who don’t respect the actions of these poachers. For example, Jessica Miller, a social studies teacher claims, “It is wrong to kill for a purpose such as this.” She also suggests, regarding the actions taken, “It comes down to people saying ‘We want what we want and we want it now.’ “

In order to assure safety, members of an armed anti-poaching unit took watch over the elephants, while Botswana’s military were tasked with flying around the borders of Botswana for the prevention of poaching. After long discussion, both the anti-poaching unit and military were disarmed for the reason that it would be unreasonable to keep watch and come in contact with poachers.

“That is one of the reasons why, in Botswana, with our anti-poaching unit, we don’t necessarily interrogate the poacher. And that is a position we’ve adopted to send a clear message to say, ‘If you want to come and poach in Botswana, one of the possibilities is you may not go back to your country alive.’ ” Khama, Botswana’s minister of environment, wildlife, and tourism, claimed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/09/04/its-open-season-for-poachers-nearly-90-elephants-killed-for-tusks-near-botswana-wildlife-sanctuary/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c6328d7e2a3b

Botswana’s government and military are doing everything in their power to prevent poaching. For example, keeping careful watch on the elephants in Botswana and catching poachers to put behind bars. Hopefully, with everything the government is trying to do to save this endangered species, the population of elephants will start to increase.

Picture Source:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/world/africa/elephants-botswana-poaching.html

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/world/africa/elephants-botswana-poaching.html

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/04/africa/botswana-elephant-poaching-intl/index.html

https://www.npr.org/2018/09/03/644340279/nearly-90-elephants-found-dead-near-botswana-sanctuary-killed-by-poachers