Sarabia 1

Tania Sarabia
Professor Lynda Haas
Writing 37
March 5, 2015January 30, 2015
Poaching Effects
The number one leading cause of the near extinction of African elephants is poaching,has
become poaching. Poaching is the act of illegally hunting wild animals, usually on land that is
not ones own. Elephants tusks are composed of ivory and that is what poachers are primarily in
search for. Elephant ivory is commonly used in large amounts to make piano keys, chopsticks,
and other items that consumers value nowadays.Those who engage in the act of poaching,
poachers, do so in search for ivory. Elephants tusks are composed of ivory and that is what
poachers primarily care about. The bigger the tusks, the better. According to Pro Wildlife, every
14 minutes one elephant dies because of poachers.Poaching is rapidly declining the elephant
population in Africa. A conservationist and long-time ranger, Rory Young claims that if the
slaughter continues there will not only be anymore ivory but elephants will seize to exist.
Kathleen Gobush, who conducted a research on elephants with the Center of Conservation
Biology of the University of Washington, focusesed on the specific of effects of poaching that
lead to the decline in the African elephant population. . Research and statistics show that
poaching is contributing to the extinction of elephants in Africa; experts in the field, however,
agree that its greatest impact is in the social and physiological functions of the elephants.
Poaching is contributing to the extinction of elephants in Africa, but more specifically it is
effecting the social and physiology functions of the elephants.

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Elephants are known to have close family ties, just like humans. One particular aspect of
elephant poaching that authorities focus on is how the death of so many elephants has changed
the social structure of the kinships Poachers target herds of elephants, hovering in they hover on
helicopters over a specific area and dropping grenades or shoot from up high with their AK-47s
and then come down and cutslay off their tusks with machetes or axes. Other elephants have to
witness the gruesome killing of other members in their kin and are left traumatized, says Gay
Bradshaw, a psychologist who researches the effects of violence on elephants and other animals
(Young and Hobson). Therefore, the death of a single member of the kin has an impact on the
family and the community as a whole. Elephants packs are generally led by a matriarch.are led
by a matriarch, which means the female is the leader of the family. According to the Kathleen
Gobushs doctoral dissertation research, old matriarchs are particularly vulnerable because of
their tusks are large and their groups were easier to find than solitary adult males (Gobush).
Females typically stay in their families from birth until death. Gobush says that a female
elephants death is more so disruptive because it effects all members of the herd. Bradshaw
agrees with Gobush because based on her observations from the animal shelters orphaned
elephants have demonstrated the necessary needs and attentions they lack from their
mothers.When the mother is poached, babies dont get the kind of care and mentoring they need
and traditionally receive, and are eventually left orphaned (Young and Hobson). Charles
Siebert, from National Geographic, states that orphan infant elephants are a challenge to raise
because they remain fully dependent of their mothers until about the age of four.r (Siebert).
Without a doubt Gobush, Siebert, Young and Hobson argue that poaching completely disrupts the
traditional social structure of elephants.

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Physiologically, elephants are affected negatively due to poaching. Through close studies,
experts have witnessed a negative effect on the physiology of elephants due to poaching. Gobush
discovered that there was a connection with the social disruption and the physiology of
elephants. Apparently, stress levels were highest in groups that lacked an old matriarch
(Gobush). Also, the social bonds resulted to be weaker. The increase in stress levels can in a way
relate back to the studies conducted by Bradshaw about the impacts that violence has on
elephants, to be specific a sustained physiological trauma. (Young and Hobson). Bradshaw
goes further into detail and states the similarity humans share with elephants when it comes to
cognition, consciousness, and especially emotion. It appears that, Iif you look at models of
science, says Bradshaw, elephants and humans really share the same components of structures
and the processes when it comes down to emotions (Young and Hobson). Another conclusion of
Gobushs research was that female elephants who lived near areas where poaching was
historically common had fewer young calves (Gobush). According to Gobush and her research
team their findings on the effects that poaching has on the physiology of elephants will result
long term considering the fact that very little has changed throughout the years concerning the
social structure of elephants.
All in all, the effects of poaching are the real factors that are leading to the decrease of the
elephant population in Africa. Poachers are unaware that they are negatively and directly
impacting the lives of elephants. The high demand for ivory is destroying elephants social and
physiology functions. Ivory-seeking poachers are failing to look at the long term consequences
for the mass slaughters they routinely plan out. Without elephants there is no ivory, and that is
the big picture that poachers fail to illustrate in their plans. The extinction of African elephants
can be halted if poachers become aware of the serious effects they are imposing on the elephants

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population as a whole. Experts have come to a scientific estimate that if poaching continues to
increase in Africa elephants will become extinct by 2020, five years from now to be exact.

Work Cited
Gobush, Kathleen. "Effects of Poaching on African Elephants." Center for Conservation
Biology. N.p., 2009. Web. 19 Jan. 2015.
Siebert, Charles. "Orphan Elephants." - Pictures, More From National Geographic Magazine.
N.p., Sept. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.
Young, Robin, and Jeremy Hobson. "Psychologist Says Elephants Suffer Post-Traumatic
Stress." Here Now RSS. N.p., 27 Mar. 2012. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.