Elephant Campaign Targets China Consumers

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

The power of the internet is being used to transcend language and cultural barriers in an effort to halt a massive spike in the slaughter of elephants in east Africa.

A leading elephant welfare charity has launched a campaign with the help of New York artist Asher Jay aimed at targeting Chinese consumers who are thought to be fuelling the illegal and bloody trade in ivory.

"Last year's unofficial figure was 149 dead of which 139 were illegally killed, and there are many more uncounted." Dr Joyce Poole, the co-founder of ElephantVoices told Sky News in an email from her field research in the Maasai Mara game reserve in Kenya.

"In the last few days I have had word of five dead from one area of the Mara. This could all be stopped if we can get the word out in Asia. Surely people need to understand that tusks have to be hacked out with an axe."

The charity is basing its campaign on two works of art commissioned from artist Asher Jay. The two posters display slogans written in Chinese.

The slogans read 'Every Tusk Costs A Life; Don't Buy Ivory' and 'Every Tusk Costs A Life; Stop The Trade' and the Chinese characters are designed to resemble elephants.

"ElephantVoices is doing something unique by making the graphic art available online in several versions, so they can be shared on social networks and be used for T-shirts, bumper-stickers, posters and banners", executive director Petter Granli said.

Sky News has decided to make a Chinese translation of this article available online in an attempt to broaden awareness of the campaign. The article will be posted on the Chinese version of Twitter - Weibo.

Elephant tusks are used in the ivory trade

With an ever increasing foothold and influence in Africa, China is widely believed to be behind a concerning increase in ivory poaching which is illegal worldwide. The ivory is smuggled by ship and also in commercial flights from east Africa to China and other Asian countries.

There it is manufactured into high-end decorative goods which are increasingly popular with China's growing middle class. ElephantVoices and other charities are concerned that those who buy the ivory have no idea of the impact it is having.

"Tusks are not shed like antlers, they do not drop out and they just cannot be removed from living elephants. To obtain them you must hack them out with an axe." ElephantVoices explained in their campaign.

"The tusks of male elephants are much larger than those of females. Poachers target elephants with the largest tusks, killing the mature, breeding males first. When they are dead and gone, poachers set their sights on younger males."

But it is the legendary intelligence of the elephant which focuses attention on their plight that much more. Experts explain that in many cases, when an elephant is slaughtered, it cries out.

Other elephants then hear that crying and in keeping with their social nature, they follow the noise. They too are then drawn into the poachers trap.

"We are asking people to help us reach out to potential buyers of ivory who don't realise that elephants are dying in record-high numbers for trinkets and decorations. The only way to stop this wanton slaughter of elephants is to choke demand for ivory and stop the trade," Dr Poole said.

An elephant that was killed by poachers

ElephantVoices describes elephant societies at the moment as resembling human communities after a prolonged war: most of the adult males - with their big tusks - have been killed.

"There are no role models for the elephant sons. As the number of adult males available to kill declines, poachers turn to the older females - the leaders of elephant society." ElephantVoices explained.

"They kill the family elders first, taking out the matriarchs, one by one. As the price of ivory increases with rising demand, the poachers slaughter the elephant mothers and daughters, causing the disintegration of entire families.

"An elephant's child, like a human child, cannot survive without the loving care of its mother. Africa's elephant orphans are succumbing in droves to starvation, grief and death."

ElephantVoices says it believes the Chinese government and the people of China have a special responsibility to end the killings. They claim that 90% of the ivory available in China is from slaughtered elephants.

"Chinese buyers deserve to know that tens of thousands of elephants are being killed to supply them with ivory. Every tusk costs a life. China has the ability to raise public awareness and to enforce their strict laws to quickly strangle the trading, buying and poaching," Ms Poole said.

"China can stop her countrymen causing the destruction of Africa's heritage and biodiversity, while concurrently protecting her enormous investments on the African continent. We urge China to take action now to end any trade in ivory - we cannot afford to lose Africa's keystone species." she said.

A Chinese translation of this Sky News article is available and will be posted on the Chinese version of Twitter - Weibo - in an effort to broaden the awareness of the issue.

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