The Africa Ivory Trade

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Ivory Trade
Ivory trade has been cited as the most significant threat to the survival of elephants in Africa. Trading of ivory intensified in the 19th century resulting in a rapid decrease in the number of elephants. As a result, several countries introduced protective measures that allowed a critical recovery in the 20th century. Unfortunately, in the 1960s, national parks and game reserves were exposed to massive tourism thereby giving poachers a golden opportunity to tame the elephants and subsequently, ivory trade surged again. Lemieux and Clerke (451) suggest that of the 1.3 million elephants estimated to be in Africa in 1942, only 600,000 were remaining in 1989. Although some of the ivory traders linked the decline in the number of elephants to habitat loss, international ivory trade was identified as the primary threat to elephant survival.
Several technological approaches including cloning and forensics can be used to tame ivory trade in Africa. In the forensic, DNA testing is used to determine the source of the ivory confiscated in transit (Wasser et al. 84). In this approach, a DNA reference map for elephants across Africa is made and used to identify the source of any confiscated ivory. This is achieved by testing the DNA structure of the seized ivory and comparing it with the DNA structure of the ivories in the reference map. Other than identifying the source, Uno et al. (11737) suggest that the period when the ivory was harvested from the elephants can be determined using radiocarbon dating.

By combining forensic and radiocarbon dating, law enforcement agencies can determine the primary sources of the ivory and subsequently divert more resources in the region to help end the ivory trade and its consequences.
The rapid decline in the number of elephants in Africa in the 20th century can be attributed to the rise in ivory trading. To counter the challenge, environmentalists can employ forensic and radiocarbon dating to monitor poaching activities in different regions in Arica. By monitoring the activities, the respective agencies can divert more resources to fight poaching activities in the identified regions.

Work cited
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Lemieux, A M, and R V. Clarke. “The International Ban on Ivory Sales and Its Effects on Elephant Poaching in Africa.” British Journal of Criminology. 49.4 (2009): 451-471. Print.
Uno, Kevin T, Jay Quade, Daniel C. Fisher, George Wittemyer, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Samuel Andanje, Patrick Omondi, Moses Litoroh, and Thure E. Cerling. “Bomb-curve Radiocarbon Measurement of Recent Biologic Tissues and Applications to Wildlife Forensics and Stable Isotope (paleo)ecology.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 110.29 (2013): 11736-11741. Print.
Wasser, S K, L Brown, C Mailand, S Mondol, W Clark, C Laurie, and B S. Weir. “Genetic Assignment of Large Seizures of Elephant Ivory Reveals Africa’s Major Poaching Hotspots.” Science. 349.6243 (2015): 84-87. Print.
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