Advocacy Project
The elephant is the largest mammal living on land in the world. It has a huge body, big ears, a long nose and a gentle personality. They never take the initiative to attack humans, and their normal life is very simple, eating and grazing everywhere, washing and bathing. Their skin is very thick, and there are also many folds on the skin. The skin between these folds is really very thin, so in order to prevent the skin from being damaged by mosquitoes, they often go to some muddy ground to roll over. Very embarrassed, but this is indeed a very effective method. Elephants are animals with high intelligence, living in highly developed and complex social behaviors. Elephants have complex behaviors and rich interactions in social activities. There is a lot of evidence that the social life of elephants is as complicated as ours, and in some respects, they are even more complicated. I will review some studies on elephant behavior.
Introduction
According to historical records, elephants have long become human friends and can provide help to humans. Elephants are very smart, able to open up grounds and bury their dead companions among fallen leaves and branches. Elephants have a long-life span, generally living to around 70 years old. They are sexually mature between 10 to 15 years old and have a pregnancy period of up to 22 months. Elephants are widely distributed. About 40 million years ago, every continent had its footprints except Oceania and Antarctica. Elephants are social animals, with a family as a unit, with female elephants as the leader (Brockett et al. 3). I will review studies about social lives of elephant. According to these studies, the time of daily activities, route of action, foraging places, habitats, etc. are all under the command of female elephants. The adult male elephant only assumes the responsibility of protecting the safety of the family. Sometimes several elephant herds gather to form a large herd of hundreds of elephants. In the wild, most wild elephants have partners at certain times. Elephants in the family are in a network of blood relations all the time, and from time to time they will establish and maintain relationships similar to friends in the mobile social network of ethnic groups, clans, and subpopulations. For male elephants, they only maintain a few days of short-lived heterosexual relationships when they are in heat, and their relationships with the same sex are mostly highly dynamic. But there are also relationships between male elephants that can be called friends, a combination of one pair or several long-term maintenance and irregular gatherings. In many studies, it has been found that elephants are very intelligent animals that can cooperate with their companions to achieve the purpose of completing tasks. At the same time, elephants are also sympathetic. They will be very sad and express condolences to their dead companions. The smuggling of elephant ivory is a very serious problem worldwide. This paper will discuss some solutions regarding to this problem.
Plotni's research
Plotni's research found that elephants and their partners cooperate to complete certain tasks. In the experiment, the elephant needs two people to pull both ends of the same rope at the same time to get rewards to coordinate with their partners. If the arrival of the partner is delayed, the elephants will not only act together, but also suppress the pull response within 45 s (Plotni et al. 1). In the experiment, a male-female pair and a male-male pair of elephants were the experimental subjects. All the studied elephants have undergone rigorous training and performed for tourists and tourists in daily performances, including demonstrations of traditional logging techniques, painting and music production. None of these elephants have received work training similar to the tasks in this study, nor did they provide the elephants with the opportunity to transfer their training to new tasks without additional training (Plotni et al. 6). The results show that through fusion and evolution, elephants may have reached the same level of cooperation as chimpanzees. Help each other and build a complex protection system. According to the study by Brockett et al., like humans, elephants themselves are very complex. Except for humans, the temporal lobe of elephants is the most developed of all terrestrial animals. The temporal lobe is the part of the brain that processes and stores information, which is why the elephant's memory is amazing. However, the similarity with humans is not limited to this. The personality of elephants varies from person to person, which means that elephants can be introverted or extroverted (Brockett et al. 3). Some people are very shy, some are very social, and some are downright bastards who can harm humans. Like humans, elephants have the ability to establish profound and lasting relationships with each other. They can keep in touch with good friends far away and greet each other after a long period of separation. This relationship can last for a lifetime, starting from an early age. Plotnik and others also found that el ephants are very sensitive to each other's emotions. When elephants are nervous, they exhibit certain behaviors, such as roaring, spontaneous defecation and violent ear flapping. When these symptoms appear, nearby elephants rush to help them and begin to comfort their stressed companions. They often slap oppressed elephants with their noses, especially around the mouth and genitals, to make sure that everything is normal (Plotnik et al. 4).Elephants can predict their own death date. When they are about to die, they will return to their elephant mound and reunite themselves with their dead relatives. There is only a mother in the elephant mound. Elephants and baby elephants, no adult male elephants were found. This is the fact that ivory collectors only collect male elephant teeth for trading. They all died violently and could not predict their death date, so they could not return to their elephant mound and their relatives to reunite(Plotnik et al. 6).
Byrne's research
Byrne's research found that in the wild, African elephants can walk a long distance, up to 64 kilometers per day. Although elephants are known for being clumsy, they are very orderly during long journeys. They line up in a row, the female elephant is the head, and the bear will catch the mother's tail. Because elephants often travel long distances, elephants have developed long-distance communication mechanisms. Elephants have many ways to communicate with each other. Different voices have different meanings and can convey nearly 70 unique messages. Some news can be heard within an area of 280 square kilometers (Byrne et al. 6). Long distance calls are actually composed of infrasound, which is a low-frequency sound that cannot be heard by human ears. The elephant even knows when the sound has spread the farthest. They often wait until dusk or dawn, when the air is the coldest. The lower temperature allows the sound to travel farther, and the elephant has been able to master this technique. At the same time, through Byrne's research, elephants are very sympathetic. The elephant family is very changeable. Different groups merge with each other to create complex relationships. These animals are highly social and can maintain their relationships for a long time. Through Bourne's research, it was discovered that separated elephants would send out complicated greetings when they reunited. When they beat their ears excitedly, the whole family will make a low-frequency rumble. They use these rumbles to recognize each other (Byrne et al. 7).
Payne's research
In the study of Payne et al. pointed out that in the elephant world, grandmothers play an important role (Payne et al. 2). Even in the most advanced human culture, women often face greater challenges than men. But the study found that in the elephant world, it is completely dominated by women. Payne and others studied the elephant population from birth to growth, and they found that male elephants left to find their own world during adolescence. They join a male team like a fraternity, roaming outside, leaving only women and children at home. Traveling together is usually family-based, usually the oldest female parent in the family. She is responsible for all family decisions, including deciding when and where to find food and how to stay in touch with other elephant families (Payne et al. 5). In other studies, it was also found that the role of the grandmother of the elephant confirmed the "grandmother hypothesis" of humans. Mccomb said that elephants live as long as humans, and some can even survive in the wild for more than 70 years. This means that elephants can see generations of people born, and grandmothers play an active role in raising grandchildren. The presence of the elephant's grandmother increases the survival rate of the baby elephant. According to research reports, the survival rate of baby elephants living with grandmothers is 8 times that of baby elephants who do not live with grandmothers (Mccomb et al. 4).
Question
Studying the social behaviors of elephants is very important and can provide a very important scientific basis for protecting elephants. These creatures form a lifelong connection with each other, working together to solve problems, and even comforting each other when things are not going well, or when one of them dies. It can be said that elephants have similar "human social" behaviors that ordinary animals do not have. They are very smart. Some scientists even think that elephants have empathy for each other. But human beings are at the top of the food chain, thinking that he is the most powerful animal. Therefore, he does not hesitate to harm other animals to gain benefits. This behavior has a great disturbance to the social life of the elephant population. For decades, human behavior has interfered with the social skills of mammals living in complex ethnic groups. This discovery will directly affect the protection and management of animals, because in traditional protection and management, people often only pay attention to the population of a certain species. For elephant populations, the harm done to them, such as slaughtering elephants to obtain ivory, using improper means to train elephants, etc., is the direct relationship between the impact and specific psychological harm.
Problem
Ivory Trade
Nowadays, more and more people realize that the way of getting along between humans and animals is definitely not the relationship between conquering and being conquered. Many abilities of animals are stronger than that of humans, and humans also need animals in many places. Even in a state of mutual benefit, humans and animals should be friends. But for some people, because wild animals are of great value, in order to achieve human goals, humans do not hesitate to hurt them. For elephants, the use of ivory is of high value. Therefore, people do not hesitate to slaughter elephants to obtain ivory and ultimately obtain the benefits they want. Conservation groups claim that poachers kill tens of thousands of elephants every year, more than at any time in the past two years, and the ivory trade has become increasingly militarized (Lemieux and Clarke 9). Elephants have a high IQ and are easy to be domesticated. Asian elephants are often domesticated in South Asian countries for servicemen, transporting wood in forest areas with inconvenient transportation. Humans have always used them to carry heavy objects, perform in circuses, and even use them in wars. In the process of training elephants, people usually harm elephants in cruel ways to achieve the purpose of elephants being able to listen to people's thoughts. At the same time, in order to open up roads and destroy the living space of elephants, people open their way in the forest. Elephants have lost their living environment. My main concern is that humans slaughter elephants and trade in ivory.
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Elephants are endangered wild animals that are of common concern to the international community, and they are also an indispensable part of the ecosystem. However, for a long time, the smuggling of ivory and its products has occurred frequently. Poaching and poaching of African elephants has seriously threatened the safety of elephants and other endangered animals. Therefore, smuggling of ivory is a very serious matter. As the public's awareness of wildlife protection has increased, countries around the world have gradually increased their efforts to combat the smuggling of ivory and its products. Strengthening the protection of wild animals such as elephants and other dangerous mines, combating poaching, poaching and illegal trade are the conditions for maintaining the stable development of the market economy, the symbol of maintaining national security and political status, and an important content related to the overall ecological balance and sustainable development.
Elephants are endangered wild animals that are of common concern to the international community, and they are also an indispensable part of the ecosystem. However, for a long time, the smuggling of ivory and its products has occurred frequently. Poaching and poaching of African elephants has seriously threatened the safety of elephants and other endangered animals(Bulte and Kooten 7). Therefore, smuggling of ivory is a very serious matter. As the public's awareness of wildlife protection has increased, countries around the world have gradually increased their efforts to combat the smuggling of ivory and its products. Strengthening the protection of wild animals such as elephants and other dangerous mines to combat poaching, poaching and illegal trade is a condition for maintaining the stable development of a market economy, a symbol of maintaining national security and political status, and an important content related to the overall ecological balance and sustainable development (Bulte and Kooten 8).
The smuggling of ivory and its products is diversified. In particular, with the increase in law enforcement in recent years, criminals have smuggled ivory and its products through various channels and methods such as cargo concealment, carry-on and mailing. Ivory and its products smuggled by land accounted for 17.13% of the total. In recent years, the number of smuggling cases by mail has increased (Gao and Clark 6). 2010 is the peak period for smuggling of ivory and its products by mail. In the past 14 years, by mail the number of smuggling cases through channels accounted for 9.61% of the total cases; maritime channels accounted for the smallest proportion, only 1.08% (Gao and Clark 3); and other channels without detailed records accounted for 21.81% of the total number of smuggling cases seized. Among the smuggling cases of ivory and its products seized in China from 2001 to 2014, the number of cases recorded in the country of origin/place of export was 1589, involving nearly 70 countries and regions. The top 5 countries and regions are Hong Kong, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, and Japan, which accounted for 31.66%, 15.67% of the smuggling cases recorded in the source/export country, respectively 7.99%, 4.72% and 4.53% (Gao and Clark 5). Among the seized cases of smuggling ivory and its products, some of the recorded source countries are actually transit places. Hong Kong, China, as a larger transit area due to its geographic location and nature, has seized the number of smuggling cases of ivory and its products There are more countries and regions with records of source country or transit place. African countries are the main sources of ivory and its products.
Gao and Clark point out that one of the important reasons why people sell ivory is that the price of ivory products is very high. People take risks to make ivory, and the things they make must have channels for sale (Gao and Clark 8). Then ivory smuggling becomes a way for some people to go. In the face of huge interests, people's bottom line gradually disappeared, and for their own interests, the elephants could not survive. Another reason is that the ivory products are very exquisite, and the collection value is very high. There are many wealthy people just to treasure these ivory products to show their status. They buy and sell them. If the buyer’s price is high, many people take the risk of smuggling ivory. As people’s living conditions gradually improve, they change their material life. Satisfaction gradually turned to the satisfaction of spiritual life, so many wealthy people tried to buy ivory products regardless of the price. This is also one of the reasons for the rampant smuggling of ivory products.
The World Animal Protection Association, the World Wildlife Fund, and many spontaneous elephant protection organizations all play a very important role in the issue of ivory trafficking. Historical and cultural traditions cannot be an excuse for cruelty to animals. The ban on trade in ivory requires global linkage and multiple links to forge "elephant protection" breakwaters.
Solution - Government Agency
The smuggling of ivory and its products has regional and international characteristics. Solving the problem of illegal ivory poaching requires joint actions by node countries involving poaching, poaching, smuggling, and consumption. In order to combat and curb ivory smuggling activities and protect African elephants, the world should unite in a unified response, strengthen international law enforcement cooperation, and it is especially urgent to strengthen law enforcement in the source country.
Government Agency:
International NGOs and the media usually attribute basic problems to China's domestic ivory market. This 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 (Gao and Susan 4). At the government level, information and intelligence between various law enforcement countries should be shared, mutual supervision, promote the improvement of comprehensive law enforcement level internationally, reduce the frequency of smuggling dangerous wild animals and products (such as elephants), especially strengthen the source The number of teeth and their products targeted by law enforcement in countries and exporting countries is to curb the smuggling of ivory and its products from the source. At the same time, with the increasingly close international exchanges and cooperation and the convenience of transportation, smuggling cases of ivory and its products have also shown new methods and new characteristics. Criminals have also begun to use "high technology" and other hidden methods to change crime. Law enforcement officers must continue to learn, exchange and improve their professional skills to better combat illegal trade. Wasser uses the ability to expand innovative DNA allocation methods to determine the geographic origin of ivory seizures. These findings allow law enforcement to focus investigations on smaller areas and fewer trade routes, and lead to changes within the Zambian government to improve anti-poaching efforts (Wasser et al. 7). This is a specific method to carry out training on combating illegal trade in endangered species, as well as a good way to carry out specific training. The government should take a good approach from basic theoretical knowledge to Chinese laws and regulations and the latest relevant policies.
This picture is evidence that the police caught the ivory trafficking gang committing a crime. China stipulates that it is a crime to buy or sell ivory and its products in markets, shops and stalls(Suter 1). If there is an illegal purchase or sale, it will be sentenced. At the same time, citizens should actively provide clues to the police if they see illegal acts of purchasing and selling precious and endangered wildlife products in their daily lives and work together to protect wildlife. The media should call on humans not to consume any endangered wild animal and plant products, especially ivory products, which will help reduce the hunting of wild animals and avoid the risk of buying and carrying such illegal products. Song's investigation of the Vietnamese ivory trade shows that the Vietnamese ivory trade is still serious. The article emphasizes that the Vietnamese people must be encouraged to stop consuming illegal wildlife products through education (Song 6). Besides, Elizabeth and others proposed to actively promote the transformation of ivory carving techniques.
Solution - Social Media
Social media has given enough attention to cracking down on illegal trade in ivory. In Thailand, the illegal trade in ivory is very obvious. The Thai Embassy launched the "Elephants Like Us" campaign, aimed at raising people's awareness of the illegal trade in wild animals and plants as well as raising people's awareness of the Thai ivory trade and the entire illegal trade in wild animals and plants. Social media played an important role in this game. Through the promotion of social media, many users participated in the event as contestants (British Embassy Bangkok 1). In the event, contestants can compete for prizes by posting photos of elephants that resemble their behavior. At the same time, booths promoting the plight of elephants have been set up at Chulalongkorn University and Sripatum University in Thailand. The booths provide students with information about illegal ivory trade and help students who want to help elephants realize their wishes. This activity gave the participants a deep understanding of the plight of elephants. Through media propaganda and appeals, people have a new perspective on the phenomenon of ivory trafficking. Through the promotion of social media, the elephant's situation is getting better and better, and any small change will bring about greater changes. At the same time, all sectors of society should encourage non-profit social and cultural groups and industry associations to engage in the research and inheritance of ivory carving technology, instead of engaging in related commercial activities (Elizabeth 8).
Alternative Argument
Although publicity and appeals through social media can increase people's attention to protecting elephants to a certain extent, to a certain extent, the role of social media may endanger the survival of elephants. For example, because the Internet is very convenient nowadays, when people see an elephant in the wild, they will locate it and send it to social media. Geotagging is accurate enough to provide data as specific as the exact latitude and longitude of the photo. This geographic location information is not only used by hunters to guide their travel to the best animal witnesses, but also by another group of poachers with less despicable intentions. At the same time, geotags can even display specific information about the location, such as which plants and animals are around (Popken 1). People just want to share their lives, but just a little negligence will allow criminals to take advantage of it. Criminals can find the location of elephants through photos and positioning on social networks, which increases the danger of elephants to a certain extent. Therefore, the media should urge everyone to close the positioning when posting wild animals to social media, so that the wild animals can live in their own area with peace of mind. Or, people can blur the exact location of the place, for example, only locate the city or state (Popken 1). The implementation of these policies on social media can improve and alleviate certain hidden dangers that threaten wildlife.
Conclusion
As long as there is an ivory trade, elephants are not safe. You cannot pray for elephants to protect themselves, especially on this continent full of guns and poverty. At the same time, because elephants are endangered species, the excavation of ivory is also quite cruel. The root of ivory goes deep into the elephant's head. Poachers must kill the elephant and cut off the elephant's head to get a complete ivory. This behavior is very bad and extremely cruel. At present, many countries and regions have Cooperated with the police, such as multi-departmental efforts to crack down on ivory sales in the market. It is illegal to buy or sell ivory for any reason, and the protection of elephants is ineffective in one country or one place. It cannot be effectively protected. In the future, you may only see elephants in museums.