17th Century
Demand for ivory began as early as the 1600s. Back then, ivory was used for sculptures and other luxury items. When the piano was invented in the 1700s, ivory then became a popular material for piano keys. This is when the population of elephants started to decline unnaturally.
Mid 1900s
Fast forward to around the 1950s. More ivory is used for luxury items but the sport of elephant hunting became popular around this time, too. Imagine hunters with rifles or arrows (or whatever weapon they preferred), spreading out across Africa and shooting elephants, removing the tusks, then leaving the carcasses where they were. Pretty scary, right?
Have you guys seen the Jurassic World movie? If you have, recall the scene where brachiosaurus or apatosaurus (the long neck dinosaurs) lay dying on the hills. Owen had said the Indominus Rex was "killing for sport." This is similar to what was happening back then.
1978
The African Elephant is officially declared as "threatened" on the U.S. Endangered Species List.
Late 1900s
A drastic drop in elephant population. According to IFAW, their numbers went from 1.2 million down to 600,000. All in a span of about 10 years.
1989
The Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) bans the trade of ivory.
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/17/science/ivory-trade-is-banned-to-save-the-elephant.html
Here is a link to a real New York Times article published in 1989 describing the ban.
1999
CITES gave permission for 3 countries in Africa to sell to Japan 55 tons of ivory. (Wondered why though....)
Early 2000s (around 2008 or so)
CITES let 4 more countries sell a whopping 120 tons to China and Japan! With so many "legal" ivory being sold, many illegal trades started (because they could get away with saying their ivory was "legal")
2011
Officials seize more than 26 tons of ivory (according to IFAW). Elephants are having an EXTREMELY bad year. "Worst year for elephant poaching since the 1989 ban took effect"(IFAW).
Demand for ivory began as early as the 1600s. Back then, ivory was used for sculptures and other luxury items. When the piano was invented in the 1700s, ivory then became a popular material for piano keys. This is when the population of elephants started to decline unnaturally.
 |
| Ivory piano keys Courtesy: Early American Industries Association |
Fast forward to around the 1950s. More ivory is used for luxury items but the sport of elephant hunting became popular around this time, too. Imagine hunters with rifles or arrows (or whatever weapon they preferred), spreading out across Africa and shooting elephants, removing the tusks, then leaving the carcasses where they were. Pretty scary, right?
Have you guys seen the Jurassic World movie? If you have, recall the scene where brachiosaurus or apatosaurus (the long neck dinosaurs) lay dying on the hills. Owen had said the Indominus Rex was "killing for sport." This is similar to what was happening back then.
 |
| "She's killing for sport" -Owen, Jurassic World Courtesy: The Wrap (covering Hollywood) |
The African Elephant is officially declared as "threatened" on the U.S. Endangered Species List.
 |
| African Elephant Courtesy: (Foreign) Wikipedia |
A drastic drop in elephant population. According to IFAW, their numbers went from 1.2 million down to 600,000. All in a span of about 10 years.
 |
| Elephant Population stats from 2005 (could not find 1900s, sorry!) Courtesy: Speak Up For The Voiceless |
The Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) bans the trade of ivory.
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/17/science/ivory-trade-is-banned-to-save-the-elephant.html
Here is a link to a real New York Times article published in 1989 describing the ban.
1999
CITES gave permission for 3 countries in Africa to sell to Japan 55 tons of ivory. (Wondered why though....)
Early 2000s (around 2008 or so)
CITES let 4 more countries sell a whopping 120 tons to China and Japan! With so many "legal" ivory being sold, many illegal trades started (because they could get away with saying their ivory was "legal")
2011
Officials seize more than 26 tons of ivory (according to IFAW). Elephants are having an EXTREMELY bad year. "Worst year for elephant poaching since the 1989 ban took effect"(IFAW).
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So now you know how bad the elephants have it. From an article which I read a few years ago, I remember that there was a law (or something similar) passed saying that we could NOT sell ivory from after an auction in the mid 1900s (I'm not 100% sure about what happened to this law later, though). However, this caused controversy because many people were claiming their ivory was from before the auction, even if they were not. This further encouraged elephant poaching. (If you like science, I can tell you that was when radioactive dating became really useful in helping illegal ivory trade. And no, not that dating, but the "estimating age of rock or ivory" dating)
The saddest part is that just 200 years ago there were around 26 million elephants--now there are less than a million. If we do not stop, elephants WILL go to extinction. And we will have to live in this world without those majestic, beautiful, amazing creatures.
Don't worry, it's not completely hopeless. Elephant numbers have now started gradually rising thanks to repeated encouragement on wildlife conservation and discouraging elephant poaching. They are now labeled as "vulnerable." We're making progress, and let's not stop making progress! Let's hope that in the next few years or decades, we can bring their population back up to a 
!
!  |
| Courtesy: World Wildlife Fund (WWF) |
Now that you know about the unfortunate history of the African elephants of the Great Migration, I will resume my normal formatting for the next post. However, since I am having trouble posting on Wednesdays, I have decided to move my posting days to the weekend. I've decided I'm going to try that for a few weeks, and see if it works out. So from now on, please expect posts on weekends instead of Wednesdays.
Cheers!
~Cheri
Sources:
Picture sources are linked in the captions
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