NCJ Number
227868
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 49 Issue: 4 Dated: July 2009 Pages: 451-471
Date Published
July 2009
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study used changes in elephant population data in order to examine the effectiveness of the 1989 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which requires member states to ban the international trade in ivory as a means of reversing a sharp decline in the African elephant population due to widespread poaching for ivory in the previous decade.
Abstract
The study found that Africa's overall population of elephants increased after the ban, but an analysis of elephant population data from 1979 to 2007 found that some of the 37 countries in Africa with elephants continued to lose substantial numbers of elephants. This is largely explained by the presence of unregulated domestic ivory markets in and near countries with declines in elephant populations. In addition, the 11 countries that experienced a civil war during the post-ban period had a 31-percent decrease in their elephant populations. This contrasted with a 62-percent increase in elephant populations of the 17 peaceful countries. Corruption was also related to declines in elephant populations. The latter findings may be the result of marauding armies shooting elephants for meat and the ease of poaching ivory under conditions of civil war and corruption; however, it is the unregulated markets and access to them that enables poachers to sell the ivory at a price that justifies the risk and effort of poaching. The elephant population data used in this study were for two periods: pre-ban (1979 and 1989) and post-ban (1989 and 2007). Regulated markets were identified from Annex 7 of the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants. Countries engaged in a civil war at any time between 1989 and 2007 were identified from Wikipedia's (2008) " List of Conflicts in Africa." Each country's corruption score was obtained from the 2007 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. 1 table, 2 figures, 51 references, and 2 appendixes