A Cry For Mercy

The sun had just started to descend over the horizon in Tasavo National park; it was a peaceful time of day for Africa’s wild life. From out of the bush came eight men packing rifles as they sprayed bullets at a family of 10 elephants. Lucy the matriarch and two younger bulls fell to the ground. A flow of crimson drenched the earth as the sound of screams filled the air. The echoes of pounding feet tried desperately to escape their fate. An occasional baby cried out for his mother as the herd fell one by one to the ground. Lucy laid on the soil as she watched poachers hurriedly cut her families tusk away with small axes. Her heart pounded widely as she struggled to her feet running panic stricken to escape this horrific crime. She was found by officials the next day roaming aimlessly in the bush with a gunshot wound to her neck. She was the only survivor to escape the massacre.

Lucy is reliving a similar scene of witnessing her mother killed and hearing her own cries when she was a baby; she was spared death because her tusks were not yet grown. This time the poachers did not care if they killed everything in sight. Every 2 years Lucy and her herd would go back to where her mother had died and cover her bones with twigs and sand, as if remembering. Lucy’s own unborn calf she carries possibly could be doomed the same fate.

Pick up a newspaper and the headline may read, The Slaughter of Elephants For Ivory Starts Again or it may say, Libertarians demand: Congress Should Kill Program That Subsidizes the Slaughter of African Elephants. Even though two thirds of Kenya’s elephant population is now protected by National Parks this is not enough. Poachers find their way in at night carefully stalking while covering their tracks. Driven by the high price that the tusk will bring, they risk their own life in exchange for the priceless ivory. To protect these animals cost is driven up to hire rangers to hunt these poachers by helicopter and foot. The price of ivory has been made profitable for outlaws that disregard the consequences of elephant hunts. Kenya is serious about protecting their elephants and has taken great measures to insure their future. Therefore, they will not tolerate these headhunting, trophy-loving individuals any longer. In many countries these animals are in distress and in need of intervention.

In 1987, Tasavo National park in Kenya experienced the worst case of elephant poaching in its history, which wiped out 90 percent of the elephants’ population. By the end of this holocaust the elephant population went from 25,000 to 5,000. In the 1930s as many as 5 to 10 million elephants roamed in Africa. During the 1970s and 80s, the demand for ivory contributed to the halving of the world's elephant population from around 1.3 million to 600,000 (Kasnoff 1). At this time, poachers were killing a thousand elephants a week, writes the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (BBC 1). The BBC is established in providing programs and data to inform and educate the public as well as offers information over the Internet. Moreover, Richard Leakey, directory of Kenya Wild Life Service showed rising concern when a herd of 10 elephants were slaughtered. “This latest incident may be the beginning of a new Holocaust,” said Richard Leakey, who has had anti-poaching matters in check for the first time in a century (Astill 4). Furthermore, according to a new report by Save the Elephants, up to 80 percent of Asia's elephant populations’ have been poached for their tusk in the past 14 years (Astill 14). Due to the decrease in population in 1989 elephants were added to the international list of most endangered species. These startling statistics are endless; the elephant population is less than one percent of its original population and is in need of help before all are exterminated.

Although less common today the killing of Lucy’s family is a familiar scene in Kenya’s Tsavo National Parks and in many other regions of Africa. Lucy’s family was killed for profit, which suggest that the ivory market is active and willing to pay high prices today. If the demand for ivory is high enough the poachers will hit upon protected parks with no regard for the law. In 2000-2002 54,828 ivory pieces, 3,099 ivory tusk (equal to 1550 dead elephants) and 6.2 tons of raw ivory (equal to about 794 dead elephants) were seized in Africa and Asia (Elephant 1). Ivory must pass through the hands of carvers before going to market in order to be sellable. Andrea Moss of the North County Times suggested that there should be more emphasis put on policing the carvers. These artists carve rings, necklaces, bracelets and hairpieces as well as household adornments for sale to public merchants. Halting the carvers would decrease the sale of ivory dramatically. Still, the request for ivory is on the rise from British and American buyers who will offer a handsome price to wear the carved bone made from the teeth of these majestic animals, but the biggest demand comes from France, Germany and Italy. In 1990 a worldwide ban was placed upon the ivory trade slowing down the request for ivory.

Moreover, hundreds of thousands of dollars are being donated to Communal Areas Management Program For Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) by our own Congress in the United States. CAMPFIRE is a foreign aid program that supports and promotes big game hunting. Trophy hunters, “for the thrill of the hunt” are killing hundreds of Elephants yearly. Millions of U.S. tax dollars have already been spent to add to the extinction of these creatures. "Your tax dollars are being turned into the bullets that are killing these magnificent animals," said Steve Dasbach, of the national chairman of the Libertarian Party. "That's why the Libertarian Party has joined with the Humane Society of the United States to oppose the program -- and demand that CAMPFIRE be doused. We need to stop the politicians before they kill again." In spite of 29 African Nations outlawing elephant hunting, Congress has already funneled 7 million dollars into this program and CAMPFIRE has requested Congress to funnel 21 million dollars more through The International Development. The CAMPFIRE program uses U.S. taxpayer dollars for advertising to lure wealthy European “trophy” hunters to Zimbabwe where they will pay 30,000 dollars for the license to kill a bull elephant. “The CAMPFIRE program presents a perfect opportunity for the president and Congress to do a little trophy hunting on their own: Hunt down and kill this deplorable program -- and stop using U.S. taxpayers' money to subsidize the hunt of African elephants.” comments Dasbach (Libertarian Party 1). The headhunters that shot Lucy’s family were not necessarily African citizens.

Finally, we must wake up to the fact that our animals are in serious trouble and on the verge of extinction, the rate of these dieing breeds are moving at such a fast pace today most people do not understand the direct impact this will have on them, the world, and their own future. We have limited the space for these endangered species, restricting their food sources, resulting in animals fighting and killing each other for survival. Clearly, people need space as well, but backing our animals into a cubical is not the answer. In Kenya our wild life are leaving their protected areas to eat crops belonging to the natives as a result they are either shot or poisoned. Hence, these elephants are facing a no win situation with nowhere to turn. The UK scientists have issued a clarion call to the world to recognize the galloping rate of species extinction (BBC 1).

Looking at the information Warrick of the Washington post states, “A majority of the nation's biologists are convinced that a "mass extinction" of plants and animals is underway that poses a major threat to humans in the next century, yet most Americans are only dimly aware of the problem”. (Warrick 1). Warrick goes on to say that the rapid disappearance of species was ranked as one of the planet's gravest environmental worries, surpassing pollution, global warming and the thinning of the ozone layer, according to the survey of 400 scientists commissioned by New York's American Museum of Natural History (Warrick 2). Furthermore, with every species that is eliminated another species has depended upon it for its own existence, creating a domino effect when one species is wiped out. There is an urgent necessity to strike a balance between nature and man for future generations if we wish to survive.

Given these facts, we must instill in our young the importance of our environment and the significant role it plays not only in our animal’s life but in theirs as well. Educate our children about nature and the value of the earth while discouraging these deplorable acts of mercilessness. Inundate these ethics and have the courage to halt the violence, this will make a difference to the African elephants fate in years to come. In essence, with every animal that becomes extinct by the means of man a bit of our strength fades by way of it.

In Conclusion, through every voice our power becomes stronger, allow us to take the time and care enough to stop the slaughter of elephants. Do not let your children grow up asking what an elephant looks like. Let us prevent these beautiful mammals from becoming a memory only to be found in a history book. Hence, we have created a nation so unfulfilled and with such little regard for life that we will kill for our own selfish entertainment, and monetary gain. I wonder what will be next when all the animals have been destroyed and there is no kindness left in man, when the only resource we have left is to feed upon each other. Simply put, the level of human intelligence is not necessarily a measure of his appreciation and benevolence. Indeed, it is a sad state when the evils of mankind override the compassion of his heart. I cry for mercy to stop the exploitation of these majestic creatures.

Lucy gazes upon her newborn calf mingling with her newly adopted herd and I question where her destiny lies.

CopyrightãCindy Bennett 8/1/2003

It Doesn’t

It doesn’t end where you want it to end

Or where you think it will

It will end where ignorance takes it

Death

It doesn’t end where you want it to end

An on going sea of righteous

Waiting in line for the next step

Misery

It doesn’t end where you want it to end