The Ivory Game

Elephant poaching is serious. There was an estimated number of 3-5 million of African elephants during the 20th century. Hundreds and thousands of elephants from Africa were illegally poached because there were massive demands for their ivory tusks, which are the highest in Eastern countries, such as China and Thailand. Why? It is due to ivory being a symbol of wealth. Ivory is often illegally bought and sold at black markets, with poachers getting away with their wrongdoings. Elephants are facing the danger of extinction, if the government does not act fast on counterattacking this problem.

More than 50% of Africa’s remaining elephants could be killed in the next 10 years if illegal poaching continues at the current rate.

9 years from now, at the current species decline rate of 8%, there will only be 160,000 elephants left.

30% decline in elephant population from 2007 to 2014.

In the context of Singapore, it seems far, for it does not happen here. But hey, don’t take this wrongly. Singapore is a major hub for transiting international products. Since 2002, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and Singapore Customs have intercepted 12.5 tonnes of ivory hauls, including a total of 3,520 pieces of ‘raw’ ivory tusk. This has already contributes to 1,700 sacrificed elephants!

DiCaprio realises this is such a pressing matter to address, leading him to produce this movie to further emphasise this, if it is not obvious enough. You will be taken to a journey in reducing, if not stopping, illegal poaching in different nations, which are Africa, China and many more. I encourage you to watch the documentary, as it provides the audience with not only a wealth of knowledge, but also support to act on this matter, in an interesting and thought-provoking way.

A more comprehensive elephant statistics can be seen here.

Source: WWF Singapore

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