Elephant poaching: solutions to the scourge

Elephant poaching rates vary greatly across Africa, say Timothy Kuiper, postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cape Town, and Eleanor Jane Milner-Gulland, Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Oxford. In this article, they suggest reasons for these differences, and how to fight the problem.

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It's a grim and all too common sight for rangers in some of Africa's nature reserves: the bullet-riddled carcass of an elephant, its tusks removed by poachers. African elephant populations have fallen by about 30% since 2006. Poaching has driven the decline.

Some reserves, such as Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nyerere National Park in Tanzania, have lost hundreds of elephants to poachers over the past decade. But others, such as Etosha National Park in Namibia, have been targeted far less. What might explain this difference? We investigated why poaching rates vary so widely across Africa and what this might reveal about what drives, motivates and facilitates poaching. To do this, we used a statistical model to relate poaching levels at 64 African sites to various socio-economic factors. These included a country's quality of governance, and the level of human development in the area surrounding a park.

Our findings suggest that poaching rates are lower where there is strong national governance and where local levels of human development, especially wealth and health, are relatively high. Strong site-level law enforcement and reduced global ivory prices also keep poaching levels down.

Understanding these dynamics is crucial. The illegal wildlife trade is one of the highest-value illicit-trade sectors globally, worth several billion dollars each year. It poses a major threat to biodiversity and ecosystems, which are the bedrock of human well-being.

And elephants are more than just a culturally significant icon. They are 'ecosystem engineers' that can boost forest carbon stocks and diversify habitats through their feeding. Their presence in national parks and reserves also has economic benefits, bringing in valuable tourism revenues.