Annotated Bibliography

Defining the Problem

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Lemieux, Andrew M., and Ronald V. Clarke. “The International Ban on Ivory Sales and Its Effects on Elephant Poaching in Africa.” Transnational Environmental Crime, 2017, pp. 397–418., doi:10.4324/9781315084589-24.

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The article focuses on this destruction of the international ivory market aimed at reversing the sharp decline in the number of African elephants, which is due to the extensive poaching of ivory in the past decade. After the implementation of the ban, the total number of elephants on the African continent has increased, but an analysis of elephant population data from 1979 to 2007 found that among the 37 countries in Africa where there are elephants, some countries continue to lose a large number of elephants. This pattern is largely due to the unregulated domestic ivory market in countries with declining elephant populations and nearby areas.

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Gao, Yufang, and Susan G. Clark. “Elephant Ivory Trade in China: Trends and Drivers.” Biological Conservation, vol. 180, 26 May 2014, pp. 23–30., doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2014.09.020.

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The article mainly tells that international non-governmental organizations and the media usually attribute basic problems to China's domestic ivory market. The article provides quantitative and qualitative information on trends and drivers of China's ivory trade. The results showed that ivory was traded in legally authorized "white" retail stores, "black" illegal stores and online trade forums, and "grey" live auctions with uncertain legality. The author believes that if elephant protection is based on a more comprehensive and specific understanding of China's domestic ivory trade, it will be more effective.

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Bulte, Erwin H., and G. Cornelis Kooten. “Economics of Antipoaching Enforcement and the Ivory Trade Ban.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol. 81, no. 2, 1999, pp. 453–466., doi:10.2307/1244594.

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The article describes the elephant protection model including illegal poaching, law enforcement and legal culling, which is used to analyze law enforcement and alternative policies for elephant populations, regardless of whether there is a legal trade in ivory. Consistent with previous theoretical models, prohibiting trade may increase or decrease equilibrium stocks. As an empirical application, Zambian information and sensitivity analysis are used to show that the ivory trade ban is more effective in protecting African elephants (the image of African elephants) than allowing open trade.

Advocating Solutions

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Wasser, S. K., et al. “Using DNA to Track the Origin of the Largest Ivory Seizure since the 1989 Trade Ban.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 104, no. 10, 26 Feb. 2007, pp. 4228–4233., doi:10.1073/pnas.0609714104.

The article describes the ability to expand an innovative DNA distribution method to determine the geographic origin of seizures of elephant tusks. The Voronoi subdivision method is used, which uses genetic similarity across teeth to simultaneously infer the origin of multiple samples that may have one or more common origins. Ivory comes entirely from savanna elephants, probably originating from the narrow east-west belt of southern Africa centered on Zambia. These findings have allowed law enforcement to focus their investigations on smaller areas and fewer trade routes, and have led to changes within the Zambian government to improve anti-poaching efforts. Such results demonstrate the potential of genetic analysis to help combat wildlife trade by identifying the source of large numbers of seized contraband ivory.

Song, Nguyen Van. “Wildlife Trading in Vietnam.” The Journal of Environment & Development, vol. 17, no. 2, 22 June 2008, pp. 145–165., doi:10.1177/1070496508316220.

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This article, through an investigation of the ivory trade in Vietnam, suggests that the government should strengthen the capacity of agencies responsible for combating trade and increase the budget. It also emphasized the need to encourage Vietnamese people to stop consuming illegal wildlife products through education. The report concluded that given the seriousness of the problem, a high level of commitment from governments at all levels will be required to have a significant impact on the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam.

Elizabeth, Lum Meagan. “CONSERVATION: Tackling Illegal Ivory Trade.” Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series, vol. 50, no. 12, 2014, doi:10.1111/j.1467-825x.2014.05497.x.

This article tells that although most countries prohibit ivory consumption, Thailand still allows domestic consumption, resulting in a mixture of legal and illegal ivory. This study believes that more background understanding of cultural beliefs can make awareness raising campaigns more effective in reducing ivory consumption. At the same time, the article explained to Thailand that consumers have re-understood the cultural value of elephants and their importance in Thai society, and made efforts to change their attitudes towards eating ivory.