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Why Reducing Ivory Demand in China Won't Curb Poaching in Africa

Most Western environmentalists contend that curbing demand in China for ivory is the key factor to help save the African elephant from extinction. Damien Mander disagrees. Mander, the founder of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation and a leader in a new movement that is militarizing the fight against illegal wildlife poaching in southern Africa, joins Eric & Cobus -- in the podcast above -- to discuss what he thinks needs to be done to save Africa's rapidly shrinking elephant population.
By 

Veteran New Media and Broadcast Journalist

and

Lecturer, Media Studies, Wits University

Veteran New Media and Broadcast Journalist
Lecturer, Media Studies, Wits University
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An elephant uses its trunk to reach the upper branches of a tree over the dry brush as it searches for food at the Tsavo West National Park in southern Kenya on August 21, 2009. Patrick Omondi, who is head of species conservation at the Kenya Wildlife Service, said that the number of elephants killed for their tusks in his country more than doubled between 2007 and 2008. The latest figures for 2009 suggest it may double again by the close of this year. A combination of the soaring value of ivory and the fact that wildlife crime is a low priority for most law enforcement agencies means that ivory poaching and trafficking has attracted the interest of international criminal syndicates who is estimated make profits that reach into the tens of billions of dollars . Poaching for elephant and rhino tusks has been on the rise in Africa since the 2007 partial lifting of an international trade ban to allow a one-off sale to China and Japan by Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, KWS said. AFP PHOTO/Roberto SCHMIDT (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)
An elephant uses its trunk to reach the upper branches of a tree over the dry brush as it searches for food at the Tsavo West National Park in southern Kenya on August 21, 2009. Patrick Omondi, who is head of species conservation at the Kenya Wildlife Service, said that the number of elephants killed for their tusks in his country more than doubled between 2007 and 2008. The latest figures for 2009 suggest it may double again by the close of this year. A combination of the soaring value of ivory and the fact that wildlife crime is a low priority for most law enforcement agencies means that ivory poaching and trafficking has attracted the interest of international criminal syndicates who is estimated make profits that reach into the tens of billions of dollars . Poaching for elephant and rhino tusks has been on the rise in Africa since the 2007 partial lifting of an international trade ban to allow a one-off sale to China and Japan by Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, KWS said. AFP PHOTO/Roberto SCHMIDT (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)

"When the buying stops, the killing can too" reads the popular slogan that WildAid uses in its anti-ivory campaign to raise awareness in China. WildAid, along with most Western environmentalists, contend that curbing demand in China for ivory is the key factor to help save the African elephant from extinction.

Damien Mander disagrees. Mander is the founder of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation and a leader in a new movement that is militarizing the fight against illegal wildlife poaching in southern Africa. Mander is a former Australia special forces soldier who also served multiple tours in Iraq as a private military contractor. Today, he trains wildlife protection teams throughout southern Africa where he says the fight to save these animals will not be won by curbing demand in Asia but by combating the organized crime syndicates that run the illegal ivory trade.

Damien Mander joins Eric & Cobus -- in the podcast above -- to discuss what he thinks needs to be done to save Africa's rapidly shrinking elephant population.

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