Portland Observer January 1,1981 Page 3
Human greed endangers elephants
9100 total move In to vat*.
low down FHA, FHA 246, and conventional term* also,
model open Sat. & Sun. noon to 6 p.m.
92nd Ave. at Burton Road. Vancouver, Washington.
Call for a showing anytime.
By Barbara S. M offet
Elephants -- the largest living land
animals -- are dying at abnormally
high rates in A fric a , squeezed
between an insatiable world demand
fo r their ivory and the march o f
human encroachment.
In much o f th e ir 35-nation
African habitat, elephants are being
k ille d faster than they can
reproduce. Spurred by a 1,500
precent rise in ivory prices in the last
decade, poachers are claim ing
50,000 to 150,000 elephants a year --
by poisoned arrows in Kenya, fires
in Sudan, pitfalls in Zaire, horse
men’ s spears in Chad, and a newer
technique o f laying poisoned fruit
along elephant's pathways.
The greatest slaughter, though,
has been by guns — high powered
rifles and automatic weapons used
by poachers, soldiers, guerrillas,
and even the rangers paid to protect
the animals. Mountains o f ivory are
leaving Africa -- much o f it illegally
— and being used fo r currency,
jewerly, and art objects, writes Oria
Douglas-Hamilton in the November
National Geographic.
She helped her husband, African
elephant a u th o rity Iain Douglas-
Hamilton, direct the first census o f
the animal, surveying by air and on
foot from the continent's southern
coast to the forests o f central Africa
and the northern deserts o f Mali and
Mauritania.
The survey, made from 1976 to
1979, concluded that only about 1.3
million elephants survived in Africa.
Once widespread south o f the
Sahara, they have been nearly an
nihilated in western and extreme
southern Africa and are in trouble
in their last strongholds -- central
and east Africa.
The census, financed by the
W o rld W ild life Fund, the New
York Zoological Society, and the
Internation al U nion fo r Conser
vation fo Nature, showed elephants
numbers to be dropping in three-
fourth o f their 35 countries.
M ajor declines were reported in
10 o f them -- Angola, Cameroon,
Central A frican Republic, Chad,
Congo, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda,
Zaire, and Zambia. A few countries
-- Zimbabwe, Malawi, Senegal, and
South A fric a , fo r example -- are
trying to enforce strict conservation
laws.
Kenya lost an estimated half o f its
elephants between 1970 and 1977
before banning hunting and the sale
o f w ildlife trophies. Poachers still
roam Kenya’ s wildlife parks, many
o f them w ell-arm ed Somali
tribesm en who have fled severe
drought areas and turned to ivory
for survival. Sophisticated poaching
also has spread to neighboring Tan
zania.
Elephants in Uganda have fared
worse, firs t under the rule o f
President Idi Amin and then at this
o verthrow . A t one p o in t troops
retreating through the country’ s
Kabalega Falls National Park gun
ned down scores o f elephants and
other animals. A later count in the
park’ s southern half found that a
1966 population o f 8,000 elephants
has been reduced to a tiny terrified
herd o f 160. The herd has since
disappeared.
Another massacre took place two
years ago in Zaire, apparently aided
by high o ffic ia ls evading ivo ry
trading laws. M ilita ry personnel
shot elephants and k ille d whole
fam ilies o f them by placing fru it
laced with battery acid or insecticide
on elephant trails.
Even a fte r Z a ire ’ s president
declared a moratorium on ivory ex
ports, trade continued across bor
ders. The country remains a leading
ivory producer.
Besides heavy losses to poachers -
fo r the precious iv o ry and
sometimes for the meat - e lephants
are being crowded o ff territory by a
grow ing human po p u la tio n in
search o f land for cultivation.
An elephant consumes about 400
pounds o f vegatation a day,
sometimes destroying whole trees o f
a farm er’ s crop. For the hungry
A frican farmer as well as the af
fluent rancher, the simplest solution
is to kill the offender. And there is
great economic incentive: a pair o f
22-pound tusks may fetch S500,
more than the average year’ s income
for many Africans.
Not considered an endangered
species, the A frica n elephant is
listed under the U .S. Endangered
Species Act as threatened, which
means its’ products can be import
ed, but only with a special permit. A
This Model - 4 bedrooms with family room, 2 baths, brick fireplace,
w/carpets, double garage, appliances, 10X20 concrete patio. Energy ef
ficient with 10 year Home Owner Warranty. Price only $58,800. Other
Models priced from $48,500.
HAZEL DELL BRANCH
716DN.E. 99th Street
Vancouver, W A 98665
Phone 205 574 1522 Vancouver
or 503-241 3723 Portland. OR
Bv Daphne Shetdnck
i9 6 0 National G eographic Society
A fric a 's w h ite gold
e le p h a n t tusks - g le a m e d
alo n g sid e rh in o cero s horns in 1975 in K enya. The
b u t tons are still shipped illega y
c o u n try bann ed p riv a te ivory sales tw o years la te r,
o th e r A fric a n n atio n s.
further U.S. restriction allows im-
portaion of ivory only from nations
adhering to the Convention on In
ternational Trade in Endangered
Species.
U.S. Fish and W ild life officials
acknowledge that ivory importation
laws are hard to enforce. Raw and
w orked iv o ry passes through so
many countries before reaching
U.S. ports that the origin is often
im possible to determ ine. False
export papers are readily available
in most African nations.
A bill pending in the U.S. Senate,
the Elephant P rotection A ct o f
1979, would allow im portation o f
ivory only from nations that, in the
opinion o f the U^S. Government,
manage their elephants properly.
The United States imports about
1 percent o f the world's raw ivory
and about 20 percent o f the worked
product — worth a total o f about
$6.25 m illio n a year. Most ivory
working is done in Hong Kong and
Japan, but Singapore, Belgium ,
France, the N etherlands, West
Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain,
Great Britain, and the United States
also have ivory industries.
The American industry is a small
but flourishing one o f about 3,000
carvers o f scrimshaw, jew elery,
knife handlers, and trinkets, accord
ing to a report by the New York
Z oological Society. It is based
primarily in New England, Alaska,
Washington, and Hawaii.
Some o f the world’s ivory goes to
cover the keys o f fine pianos, even
though plastic substitutes are
available. Ivory is believed to ab
sorb p e rspiration , enabling the
fingers to glide over the keys
without slipping.
Elephants tusks - actually en
larged incisors — are not the only
source o f ivory. It also comes from
the teeth o f the sperm whale, the
hippoptamus, walrus, and narwhal.
The elephant tusk can weigh as
much as 200 pounds, although one
weighing more than 200 pounds is
considered large.
As much as gold or diamonds,
ivory is a hard currency and has
been centuries. A fric a n ivo ry
trading first blossomed in the 15th
century as the continent gradually
opened to European traders.
By the 19th century the iv o ry
trade had spawned a sideline — an
increased use o f slaves. Virtual ar
mies o f A fricans were forced by
Arab traders to haul the hulking
tusks from the jungles overland to
seaports. Slaves that survived the
journey often were sold along with
the ivory.
Later, when European powers
secured and partitioned Africa, they
used the ivory trade to subsidize
colonial administrations. Parts o f
A fric a that had teemed w ith
elephants at the beginning o f the
19th century were nearly void o f
them by the close o f it.
Before World War I, about 1,100
tons o f ivory left Africa every year.
Between the two world wars exports
plunged and ivo ry values were
re latively low . Then, in the in
flation-ridden 1970s, ivory’ s value
shot upward, even faster than that
o f gold. Its prices rose from about
$2.30 a pound to about $45 a
pound, eventually leveling o f f
around $35.
k n n u _ and
NOW
check, save and charge
w ith an d d friend.
Tafee charge w ith
our VISA card.
NOW checking
accounts
earn 5^%
/ interest!
The Benj Franklin
has blossomed with all
the family financial ser
vices you need Like our NOW Ac
count a checking account that
pays you interest! So even while
you re busy wnting checks, the bal
ance in your NOW Account is busy
earning 5 25% interest from the day
of deposit to the day of withdrawal,
compounded constantly Effective
annual yield is 5.47%
No service charge
w ith m inim um
balance.
Maintain a minimum balance of
just $300. and save up to $84 a year
in fees that you coulql be charged at a
bank! If your balance drops below
the minimum during a month, our
service charge is only $3 And here’s
good news for our senior citizen
friends When you arrange for Direct
Deposit of your Social Security check
to either a Benj. Franklin NOW Ac
count or savings account, you'll re
ceive interest-paying checking FREE
of charge regardless of the balance
you maintain in your NOW Account
The Benj. Franklin proudly offers
VISA The card that allows you to
take charge anywhere in the world.
There s no annual service fee
Apply today!
friend than ever.
are
open 24 hours.
We re sprouting Ben's Bankers
our 24 hour teller machines — in 30
convenient locations throughout
Oregon Which means anytime day
or night, seven days a week,
you can receive cash ___
____
Make deposits and
loan payments Or
(S*1
transfer funds Any '
’’
—
Ben s Banker is easy
to operate with your
Benj Franklin VISA or
Prestige Card! Ask us for more details
FREE checks,
overdraft
protection.
Just for opening your NOW
Account, we 11 give you 200 per
sonalized checks, FREE! We can
provide you with automatic overdraft
» »
''' ' - ;
* r.
,
It
• ‘
■ ’ *
Check, save and charge
with an old friend.
Franklin
FEDERAL SAVIMGS AMD LOAM ASSM
Tha firtt minimum-wage law was enacted by the govern
ment of Naw Zealand in 1894.
> ■
?V<.
' I
At The Benj. Franklin, we have a
whole new crop of
services. Come in
today,
and
plant the
seeds of fu-'
ture financial
growth! We w ant to be your
family financial center.
$1 billion strong Serving Oregon
since 1925. More than 50 offices
throughout Oregon.
National Geography Nawa Service 1800
• „•
MINNEHAHA BRANCH
47 St. Johns Road
Vancouver, W A 98881
Phone 206-694-8677 Vancouver
or 503-223-8229 Portland, OR
'
.
FSÍJC