The elephants in the Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa had entered puberty. It caused them to increase aggression which made them go on a killing-spree, slaying almost 40 rhinoceros. The park officers did want this to happen; therefore they brought more male elephants into the park, which solved their problem.
Although this story has a satisfying ending, however due to the loss of habitat to citification and urbanization, the populations of elephants have been dramatically reducing in Africa. If the population carries on dropping, the elephants will become an extinct species.
Elephants are the biggest land animals. They can swim long distance and walk without a sound. They travel 6,000miles a year searing for food, and can live up to 60 years. Elephants open new habitats for other animals and help trees to scatter their seeds. They have no natural enemies that are except for Human been.
The reasons poaches hunt down elephants are because of elephants’ ivory tusks. Although there are laws being instituted recently, the number of illegal poaching has not decreased, in fact, it has increased. The weapons are more available due to the world war two, which makes the poach rangers more difficult to prevent poaches from killing elephants. Price paid has increase during the years, Smugglers ship raw ivory to factories where it is used in Chinese medicines or are carved into sculptures.
The governments of the Africa countries have attempt to combat the poaches and control the dropping population of elephants by granting the ownership of an area of wild animals to the nearest communities, however this solution has not been very successful. The other solution is to educate the poor villages in Africa and increase more public services.
To save the elephants, and other dropping-population-species, the world has to unite and work together.
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