Stop The Slaughter Of Elephants

    

     The brutal butchery of African elephants must come to an end.  These majestic beasts are being slaughtered for their valuable ivory tusks in a killing frenzy throughout the continent.  Every year, more than 25,000 elephants are murdered by poachers. The result of this wildlife crisis could lead to the extinction of these prodigious pachyderms. 

     Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was once home to 20,000 elephants.  Officials estimate there are now less than 2,500.

     Not too long ago, 22 dead elephants, including several very young ones,

were discovered tangled together on the open savanna in the Garamba National Park.  Their ivory tusks had been slashed and severed.  Authorities in The Congo believe that members of the Ugandan military gunned down the elephants by shooting them from a helicopter.  The disgusting destruction of these massive mammals profited the alleged assassins with more than one million dollars worth of ivory.

     Why would the Ugandan military - who are one of The Pentagon's closest partners in Africa - savagely slay nearly two dozen elephants, including babies?  Why would they be involved in what could someday become the annihilation of these awesome animals?

     Conservation groups report that poachers are wiping out tens of thousands of elephants a year, which is more than at any time in the past two decades.  This is disgraceful. 

     Some of Africa's most notorious armed organizations are hunting down elephants and using their tusks to purchase weapons.  These groups are reportedly linking up with corrupt officials in the People's Republic of China; and experts believe as much as 70% of illegal ivory is transported to China and then sold on the streets of Beijing - often to wealthy Chinese customers - for an astronomical price of $1,000 per pound.  The extermination of these elephants net the production of everything from chopsticks to souvenir gift items, from cups to combs, to bracelets and rings plus so much more.  In 2011, more than 150 Chinese citizens were arrested in Kenya, Nigeria, The Sudan and elsewhere on the African continent for smuggling ivory.

     Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is pleading with world leaders to stop the epic slaughter of African elephants.  Mrs. Clinton is reportedly pressuring the highest level of the Chinese government and is apparently spending an intense amount of time and effort to address this issue.  "Our goal," Secretary Clinton declared, "is to inform more people about this global conservation crisis.  Attacks on elephants, as well as rhinos, are multiplying at an alarming rate."  Statistics from 2011 document that nearly 39 tons of illegal ivory were seized worldwide.  That total equals the tusks from more than 4,000 dead elephants. 

     Law enforcement officials say that organized crime groups and corrupt government officials are responsible for aiding poachers and smugglers.  They allege that it would be impossible to move hundreds and thousands of pounds of tusks all around the world in shipping containers that are specially constructed with secret compartments without the assistance of people of some power. 

     As diamonds once did in the west African nation of The Republic of Sierra Leone, ivory is being utilized to fuel conflicts throughout Africa.  "Blood diamonds" were used to fund military actions against legitimate governments that led to the death and displacement of millions of people.  Diamonds have also been used by terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda in order to finance their illegal activities and for money-laundering purposes.  Now, organized crime groups, militias and terrorist cells have recognized how much money can be made by killing elephants for their precious ivory tusks.  Experts in Africa are disturbingly using the horrendous phrase "blood ivory," a reference to the "blood diamonds" that warlords in Sierra Leone used to pay for their ammunition.

     The executions of elephants are not only acts of crime and carnage, but this is a very sad situation.  If such devastation continues, future generations may grow up on a planet that has extinguished elephants.  This makes my blood boil.

     I, for one, certainly do not know how the United States, nations in Africa and/or countries elsewhere around the world will be able to put a screeching halt to the tragedy of killing elephants.  I suppose, however - as with anything else - as long as people continue to pay big money for ivory, it will be impossible to stop the malicious massacres of these captivating creatures. I can only hope...that somebody can.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

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