Social Innovation: 2011 Was A Bad Year For Elephants

Social innovation did not work for the poor elephant: 2011 was a bad year for this endangered species. There was a record number of large captures of elephant tusks, which showed that at least 2,500 animals had died (though some of the seized tusks could have come from old stockpiles of elephants that had been killed years ago). It's not clear how many elephants were recently killed in Africa for their tusks, yet experts are still alarmed.

The recent haul shows that organised crime, particularly from Asian syndicates, are now becoming increasingly involved in the illegal ivory trade. The wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC's elephant and rhino expert Tom Milliken says, "As most large-scale ivory seizures fail to result in any arrests, I fear the criminals are winning. The escalation in ivory trade and elephant and rhino killing is being driven by the Asian syndicates that are now firmly enmeshed within African societies." Most cases involve ivory being smuggled from Africa into Asia, where growing wealth has fed the desire for ivory ornaments and for rhino horn that is used in traditional medicine, even though scientists have proved it has no medicinal or social innovation value.

There were at least 13 large seizures in 2011, compared to six in 2010, with approximately a total weight of 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds). On December 21, 2011 the Malaysian authorities seized hundreds of African elephant tusks worth $1.3 million that was being shipped to Cambodia. Massive poaching for the ivory trade in the 1980s halved the remaining number of African elephants to about 600,000. As a result the global community came together to create the 'Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora' in 1989, which was an international social innovation agreement between governments to place a ban on ivory trade in order to protect the elephant herds in east and southern Africa. However, since then, things have since changed, and the plight of the elephant has escalated due to the new threat from Asia.

According to the social innovation Environmental Investigation Agency, 50 elephants a month are being killed with their tusks hacked off in Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve. The shipments are so large that the criminals have taken to shipping their ill-gotten gains by sea instead of by air, falsifying documents with the help of corrupt officials.

A report from Kenya's Amboseli National Park flags up the dangers and shows how the lack of social innovation for the elephant has affected its herd. There had been almost no poaching in the park for 30 years until a Chinese company was awarded the contract to build a highway nearby two years ago. Since then Amboseli has lost at least four elephants. Hopefully, 2012 will be a year where more is done to protect this species. Otherwise, the future will only know about this creature from the dusty annals of books and encyclopaedias.

Photo Credit: Mediatejack