Aaron Canda Senior Thesis Final Draft (1)

CONSERVING ELEPHANTS THROUGH VALUE REDUCTION OF IVORY IN ELEPHANT TUSKS Canda 1
Conserving Elephants through Value Reduction of Ivory in Elephant Tusks
Aaron Canda
Dr. Hays
Eastern University

Conserving Elephants through Value Reduction of Ivoryin Elephant Tusks 2
Abstract
Elephant populations are in decline due to illegal poaching to obtain the ivory from their
tusks. Ivory is very valuable to markets and consumers and poachers are taking advantage of
that. This is impacting the elephant population by an increase of illegal elephant poaching within
the last four decades. This paper proposes three hypotheses that will help the elephant population
increase. The hypotheses of this research proposal focus on creating methods to find ways to
devalue ivory, conserve elephants by tracking elephant populations and establishing more law
enforcement, and educating the general public surrounding elephant habitats. The goals of these
hypotheses are to create a dye that will stain elephant tusks to make them look less attractive to
poachers, increase awareness of illegal elephant killings and illegal ivory trade, and to regulate
weaker enforced elephant habitats.
Introduction
Conservation of Elephants
One of the biggest land mammals known to man, the elephant, has two different species:
African elephant and Asian elephant (Montazeri, 2013). The African elephant has two
subspecies, savannah, which live in the savannah ecosystems south of the Sahara Desert, and
forest, which are found in rainforests, located in western and central Africa (Defenders of
Wildlife, n.d). The Asian elephant has four subspecies: Sri Lankan, Indian, Sumatran and Borneo
(Defenders of Wildlife, n.d.). Asian elephants inhabit India, Sri Lanka, China, and Southeast
Asia (Defenders of Wildlife, n.d.).
Elephants are incredibly smart animals that are able retain memories from many years
ago. A mother elephant is able to remember and lead her herd to a watering hole that she visited
years ago during dry seasons when water is not available (Defenders of Wildlife, n.d.). They can

also display emotions such as sorrow, happiness, and frustration and can show when they want to
play (Defenders of Wildlife, n.d.). Their diet consists of small plants, grass, fruit, bamboo, tree
bark, and underground roots and can eat up to 300-400 pounds of food per day (Defenders of
Wildlife). These fascinating creatures currently are in danger from a decline in population due to
illegal poaching for their tusks. In the 1970s, elephant populations of 1.3 million was reduced to
600,000 by the 1980s due to poaching (Archie and Chiyo, 2012).Within the 2000s,
approximately 35,000 to 38,000 elephants have been killed each year, which averages out to 104
elephants each day (Montazeri, 2013). Illegal hunting of the animals for its tusks can severely
threaten endangered elephant populations in both Africa and Asia (Montazari, 2013).
There has been a connection between ivory and the declining elephant populations since
the 1800s (Maisels et al., 2013). The highest ranked threats to elephants, according to the African
Elephant Action Plan, a plan accounting for all elephant habitats in Africa, were illegal killings
and trading of elephant meat or tusks (Maisels et al., 2013). Elephant populations in past four
decades have been declining globally. Within the last decade, studies have been shown that the
decline in population have been increasing, especially in Central Africa (Wittemyer et al., 2014).
In Central Africa, elephants were first identified as endangered in 2008 (Maisels et al., 2013).
Several recent studies have been done to help prevent illegal hunting and improve
elephant conservation. According to Wittemyer, Northrup, Blanc, Douglas-Hamilton, Omondi
and Burnham (2014), the present decline in African elephants was exceeding the growth capacity
of the species. In 2011 alone, about 40,000 elephants were killed illegally in Africa (Wittemyer,
et al., 2014). The year 2011 had the highest number of illegal killings of elephants since the
world ban on legal ivory trade went into effect in 1989 (Montazeri, 2013). If the decline of
population is exceeding the growth capacity, the population is considered to be unsustainable.

Wittemyer et al. (2014) developed an approach to identify population trends that was used at
over 45 different sites throughout Africa to determine the elephant’s current population status.
The population trends could show which areas are greatly affected in Africa by poaching and
illegal harvest of tusks. In another recent study of elephant populations, it was determined that
306 observed elephant population sites in Africa had been reduced by 75% (Smith, Biggs, St.
John, Sas-Rolfes, and Barrington, 2015).
It was suggested that more enforcement and a decreased demand for ivory in an end-user
market are necessary to reduce the black market price of ivory (Wittemyer et al., 2014). If illegal
killings stopped, elephant populations will increase. Other suggestions of improving the growth
capacity call for more effective conservation management of a species (Wittemyer et al., 2014).
However, it is difficult to measure the complete elephant population due to the wide range of
elephant distribution throughout the continent (Wittemyer et al., 2014). A program, called the
Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE), can be used to document elephant carcass
data and calculate the Proportion of Illegally Killed Elephants (PIKE) (Maisels et al., 2013). In
MIKE, rangers are to determine the cause of death, sex, age, and the status of the ivory in
elephant carcasses. Information found is then recorded in a standardized carcass form, which
then gets submitted to the MIKE program database (CITES, 2015). PIKE is found by using the
number of elephants that were poached divided by the total number of elephant carcasses found
(CITES, 2015). One can find trends of elephant population, where elephant killings are located,
and identifying and organizing threats to the animals by using these programs, and can also find
whether and where illegal trade is rising (Maisels et al., 2013). MIKE found that the rise in
illegal trade is correlated with increased elephant deaths (Maisels et al., 2013).

Overharvesting of elephants for human consumption and use of their tusks has effects on
the elimination of the elephant species, biodiversity, food webs, and on ecological systems
(Wittemyer et al., 2014). Conservation of African forest elephants is important because they have
a great effect on ecological systems. Compared to savannah elephants, they eat fruits and can
transport a large amount of seeds several kilometers away from the parent tree (Maisels et al.,
2013). Elephants play key roles in maintaining a diverse forest by transporting seeds during
migration and also in clearing forests that contain rich minerals in the soil that other plants are
dependent upon (Maisels et al., 2013).
Bouche et al. (2011) found that trends of savannah elephant population have been
declining since 1980, but varied by location, with Central Africa containing the greatest decline
compared to other parts of the Sudano-Sahelian range. This range extends from Senegal to the
Nile River (Bouche et al., 2011). This great decline in Central Africa resulted from a lack of law
enforcement organization failure, which allowed more illegal hunting of elephants (Bouche, et
al., 2011). Bouche et al. (2011) suggested that the past four decades have resulted in failed
conservation for elephants and that conservation can only be improved with the combined
collaboration of all elephant range states and international institutions.
Ivory that is legally harvested from elephants that die natural deaths is another option that
could lead to a reduction of illegal poaching (Smith, et al., 2015). Selling legally obtained ivory
is an option that allows for a direct funding source for elephant conservationists who depend on
government grants to conduct their work (Smith et al., 2015). Many African countries have
saved their ivory in stockpiles from naturally deceased elephants in hopes that prices will
increase in the future to sell to domestic markets for legally obtained ivory (Smith et al., 2015).
However, there is concern that current legal domestic markets have become corrupt and are

allowing illegal ivory trade (Smith et al., 2015). Smith et al. (2015) argues that selling legal ivory
may not be the best of the possible options to benefit the elephants, but reducing the corruption
of elephant conservation will make it easier. Reduced corruption could be a benefit of selling the
legal ivory from the government stockpiles, as the government would have an income stream
from their stockpiles so the loss of the illegal ivory trade payoffs would not be as bad.
In 1989, the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES) enacted a law that created a ban on the illegal ivory trade across the world
(Hutchens, 2014). This ban was successful in reducing poaching at first, however, in 1999,
Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia transferred their ivory stores to the Asian markets, which
revived the ivory market (Hutchens, 2014). Since the 1989 ban, poaching of African elephants
had increased dramatically, with up to 10,000 elephants killed per year (Hutchens, 2014). In
order to combat this crisis, CITES members in all elephant range states, or countries with
elephant populations, developed the African Elephant Action Plan (AEAP). This plan was to
focus on developing strategies, such as shoot-to-kill laws and increasing funding for these
programs (Hutchens, 2014). However, these plans still have not yet been implemented because
the elephant range states hold differing views of enforcement, penalties for killing the elephants,
and rules of how to handle elephant resources (Hutchens, 2014).
CITES categorizes animals in different appendices to classify which species are more
threatened than the others (Hutchens, 2014). These appendices are divided into three groups.
Species placed in Appendix I are species that are threatened with extinction that are or have a
possibility of being associated with trade (Hutchens, 2014). Appendix II includes species that
may not necessarily be threatened to extinction, may have a chance of becoming extinct unless
trade of that species was strictly regulated (Hutchens, 2014). Appendix III species are

categorized at the least regulated level (Hutchens, 2014). In 1989, CITES had proposed a change
of the status of elephants from Appendix II to Appendix I for several countries, including Kenya
and Zimbabwe, both of which have opposed the CITES ban (Hutchens, 2014). These countries
have argued that elephants are currently not being threatened with extinction (Hutchens, 2014).
After President Moi of Kenya set $3,000,000 worth of ivory on fire, pro-ban countries of
Southern Africa won the fight to place elephants in Appendix I (Hutchens, 2014).
Elephant Tusks
Tusks are made of dentine and are quite similar in composition to human teeth (Keye,
2010). Elephant tusks also have a pulp cavity that contains blood vessels and nerves (Keye,
2010). If an elephant’s tusk were to be chopped off and the pulp cavity exposed, it would be very
painful for the elephants and may cause infections to the open wound eventually leading to death
(Keye, 2010). Elephant tusks have one specialized set of tusks that can grow back as long as they
has not been cut at the roots (Keye, 2010). However, when poachers cut off an elephant’s tusk,
they try to do so as close to the root as possible so that they can obtain as much ivory as possible
(Keye, 2010).
Elephant tusks vary depending on the species, sex, age, and habitat of the elephant
(Rijkelijkhuizen, Kooter, and Davies, 2015). The forest elephant is known to have a hard quality
to its tusk compared to the savannah elephant, whose tusks are much larger and whiter
(Rijkhelijkhuizen et al., 2015). Male and female tusks are both long in African elephants,
whereas female Asian elephants are practically tuskless compared to the males (Chelliah and
Sukumar, 2013). Elephant tusks can weigh as much as two hundred pounds and grow as long as
ten feet (Montazeri, 2013). The tusks plays an important role in this species. Male elephants can
use their tusks to duel other males to determine dominance in a group (Mutinda et al., 2014).

Other uses for their tusks are to dig up roots and essential nutrients, and tear bark off of a tree to
forage for food (Mutinda et al., 2014).
In order to gain a better understanding of elephant conservation, the value of ivory needs
to be discussed. For centuries, ivory has been globally represented as a sign for prosperity,
longevity and spiritual devotion (Montazeri, 2013). Elephant tusks can be beautifully crafted and
polished to make astonishing pieces of art (Montazeri, 2013). According to the Animal Welfare
Institute, the ivory trade has surprisingly increased since the 1989 international ban on ivory
(Montazeri, 2013). A typical African poacher can earn up to $800 per 10 kilograms of ivory,
which equivalent to the amount of ivory for one elephant (Animal Welfare Institute, n.d.). The
prices in Asia could be worth at least $1,800 per kilogram (Animal Welfare Institute, n.d.).
To prevent human conflict with elephants, electric fences have be built to control the
movement of elephants (Mutinda, Chenge, Gakuya, Otiende, Omondi, Kasiki et al., 2014). The
tusk contains a large nerve which runs through only part of the tusk and makes the ends of
trimmed tusks more sensitive to the electric fence (Mutinda et al., 2014). Mutinda et al. (2014)
observed the behaviors of four bull elephants towards electric fences after detusking them. A
third of the tusk was left after detusking to ensure they had not exposed a nerve (Mutinda et al.,
2014). However, the elephants were still able to knock down the electric fences using their
bodies or head, even without the tools, the tusks, that they prefer to use to knock them down
(Mutinda et al., 2014). After detusking the elephants, the elephants were more sensitive to the
shocks because their shortened tusks were closer to the nerves. Also, because their tusks
represent the dominance of males in a group, detusked elephants are put at a disadvantage when
it comes to duels, mating, and foraging for food (Mutinda et al., 2014). Although detusking may
put the elephant at a disadvantage, it may help them appear unattractive, unauthentic, or different

to humans who might want to kill them for their tusks, thus protecting the elephant. Detusking
might not be beneficial to the elephant, but it will not kill them and electric fences will somewhat
control elephant migration (Mutinda et al., 2014). Detusking, while not great, would still save the
elephants from being poached.
Following the huge population decrease in African elephants in the 1970s and 1980s,
most poachers have selected to kill the elephants with larger tusks. This has consequently posed
a problem for current elephants and the size of their tusks. Female elephants tend to create bonds
with older, experienced male elephants, therefore the loss of these older males that have larger
tusks leaves females to mate with the remaining elephants with shorter tusks (Archie and Chiyo,
2012). Older elephants and their kin have been taken by poachers and relationships were
disrupted and can lead to lower reproduction rates in females (Archie and Chiyo, 2012).
An increase of demand for ivory, and thus potentially elephant poaching, comes from the
fact that ivory can also be valued for religious or medical purposes. For years, ivory has been
used as relics for some religions such as Christianity and Buddhism ranging from the Philippines
to Japan, with some even considering ivory to be worth more than gold (Montazeri, 2013). Thai
Buddhist Monks believed that ivory had special powers to remove bad spirits and give health
benefits (Montazeri, 2013). Ground up ivory was also used in traditional Chinese medicine as an
aphrodisiac (Montazeri, 2013). Having possession of ivory in one’s home can show the status of
the owner’s wealth (Montazeri, 2013).
A decrease in price in ivory could result a decrease in illegal hunting. From 2010 to 2014,
the value of ivory in Beijing had tripled up to an average of $2,100 per kilogram (Martin and
Vigne, 2015). However, in November 2015, the price had dropped significantly to $1,100 per
kilogram (Martin and Vigne, 2015). China’s awareness of about the impacts on the elephants, the

government’s intentions to close down ivory trade, and the slowdown of the Chinese economy
were all factors for the decreased demand for elephant ivory (Martin and Vigne, 2015).
According to Martin and Vigne (2015), vendors have mentioned that since the government’s
efforts to remove the corruption of illegal trades, their ivory sales have been largely affected and
had to cut back on ivory sales due the lack of revenue they receive. Vendors now see no hope in
the future for ivory business (Martin and Vigne, 2015).
Poaching Conflict
Poaching is a big threat to the elephant populations and may be tied to criminal
organizations. Poachers come from crime organizations lead by the Chinese or African country
warlords, depending on location (Hutchens, 2014). The income poachers obtain from selling
ivory is put into buying more weapons (Hutchens, 2014). One might say that more patrol is
needed to prevent poachers from taking elephant lives, but in some instances, it may not be a
perfect solution. According to Montazeri (2013), poacher groups may consist of rebel militia or
government armies that may devastate a wildlife ranger who may be older, alone or not well
armed. Poachers can shoot elephants in the head from truck convoys and helicopters and then
take their tusks (Montazeri, 2013). Another strategy poachers use to kill elephants is to poison
them with Temik. Temik is a deadly agricultural chemical, which poacher place inside fruits
(Montazeri, 2013). Ivory tusks are then smuggled across borders in suitcases by crafting fake
certificates claiming that the ivory was claimed legally (Montazeri, 2013). Other techniques to
smuggle ivory are to use washable brown paint to give the tusks a wooden appearance or use
resin to make the ivory look like it was collected prior to 1989, so that it is outside of the CITES
and AEAP regulations (Montazeri, 2013).
Education

Educating people about elephants will increase the awareness that they are in need of
help. Montazeri (2013) states that a trade ban, alongside education, will result in a greater decline
in elephant poaching than trade bans alone. Montazeri (2013) also mentions that elephants are
charismatic creatures and have traits that should get people interested in them and will aid in
people listening to public education campaigns directed towards conservation. Other charismatic
animals, such as dolphins, have been successful in conservation efforts (Montazeri, 2013).
Educating those who buy ivory may also decrease the demand for ivory after they learn the
misconceptions of the ivory trade and become more informed about the elephants and allow
them to think about whether or not they really want to purchase the ivory (Montazeri, 2013). A
survey showed that 70% of Chinese consumers were oblivious by the fact that obtaining ivory
from the elephants kills them and that some thought that elephants lose their tusks like how
humans lose their teeth (Montazeri, 2013). This shows that education to those buying ivory may
or may not change a decision of a customer, but that the general public has many misconceptions
regarding ivory. Therefore, educating the public will contribute to conserving elephant
populations and decrease elephant poaching.
While there are many things to learn about the conservation of elephants, the problem is
clear: Elephant population rates have been in decline for decades because of illegal poaching of
elephant tusks and the ivory trade. Some ways to prevent even further decline in elephant
population are to completely ban illegal ivory trade, educating ivory consumers and vendors
about biodiversity, lowering the value cost of ivory, and continuing to observe population trends.
Elephants have a good chance to turn the decreasing population rate around based on the Chinse
government’s crackdown on illegal ivory trade. As long as the value of ivory continues to drop,
eventually poaching will cease to exist.

Hypotheses
There are three hypotheses associated with this proposed research project and they are as
follows:
1. Dying elephant tusks will decrease the value of ivory and make elephants look less
attractive to poachers.
2. Educating the people that live in the surrounding area where elephants are found will
increase awareness of the elephants and increase elephant populations.
3. Tracking elephant populations and establishing stronger law enforcement in weakly
enforced areas will discourage poachers and result in increased elephant populations.
Proposed ResearchMethods
To being this research, a preliminary experiment will be done to determine the best kind
of dye that will be used to stain elephant tusks. A collection of elephant tusks is needed to test
different stains. Elephant tusks should be obtained from those seized from poachers that have
been caught or collected from elephants that have died natural deaths. At least 5 large tusks will
be needed for this experiment and will be taken to a laboratory to test for staining. Each tusk will
be cut into 15 individual pieces that are two feet in length. Three different dyes will be used to
stain these tusks: red wine, henna, and ohaguro. Each dye will require 5 tusk pieces.
For experimental purposes, these stains will only be tested on the enamel of the tusks.
Each dye will be tested to determine the amount of stain left on the tusk, the durability of the
stain, and how difficult it is to remove a stain. The amount of stain left on the tusk is to see
which dye had effectively left a stain on the tusks. The durability of the tusk is to see how well
the stain can resist water, and the difficulty to remove a stain is to imitate poachers trying to

remove the stain. The dyes that were chosen in this experiment are closely related to what stains
human teeth because elephant tusks are almost similar to human teeth.
Red wine is known to cause stains in teeth because of its intense red chromogen (Pearson,
2011). Red wine is very acidic and can dissolve the surface of a tooth at microscopic levels,
allowing it to accept a different pigment (Pearson, 2011). Red wine also contains tannins, which
are molecules that have high binding potential to the surface of a tooth and also holds the
chromogens (Pearson, 2011). Dyeing a tusk with red wine may contribute a red color to its tusks.
During the day time, elephants are highly likely to have dichromatic color vision, where they can
only see two primary colors, blue and yellow (Yokoyama et al., 2005). Having a red color to an
elephant tusk may prove to have some advantage to elephants with red tusks as they will not be
able to see it when elephant herds interact with each other. Ohaguro, a black dye that contains
iron fillings oxidized in tea or sake, was used in a traditional practice by the Japanese to dye their
teeth black until 1870 (Mingren, 2016), will be used to paint elephant tusks black. Henna paste
that is used for temporarily tattooing human skin will also be tested to stain elephant tusks.
To determine the amount of stain left on each tusk for red wine red wine, five gallon
buckets will be filled up with any type of red wine. Tusks will be placed in the buckets for two
weeks. Tusks will be observed every three days to look for the amount of stain left on the tusks.
To determine the amount of henna stain left on a tusk, henna paste will be painted on the entire
elephant tusk pieces every three days for two weeks. Similar to red wine, observations will be
made every third day and paint will be reapplied. Ohaguro requires a week to prepare. This is
done by soaking steel wool in vinegar. Enough steel wool to fit in 1 gallon of vinegar will be
required. After one week of oxidizing the steel wool in vinegar, green tea powder will be mixed
to make the dye. The dye will be painted on and the entire tusk pieces every three days for two

weeks, observing the amount of stain left on the tusk every three days. Only one type of tusk dye
will be tested on per month.
After two weeks of observing the elephant tusk piece stains, durability of the tusk stains
will be determined. The stained tusks will be submerged into water in five gallon buckets for two
weeks. Each tusk piece will then be observed every two days within those two weeks. Tusk
pieces will be observed to see the amount of stain left after soaked in water for a number of days.
For each of the stains, this method will be done to determine the durability of each tusk stain.
Finally, to test for the difficulty of removing a stain, each tusk piece will be scrubbed,
preferably with a hard bristled brush, with bleach. Each tusk piece will be scrubbed for a half
hour. Each piece will be observed for how much stain is left after scrubbing. After three months
of dyeing and testing elephant tusks, the stains will be analyzed to determine which stain had left
the most amount of stain, which stain was more durable and which stain had the most difficulty
removing. If none of the stains meet these requirements, then one will be picked at random to
proceed to the next experiment.
After staining tusk pieces, the experiment will move out of the laboratory to test on live
elephants in zoos. Zoos that have mature elephants will be contacted through e-mail or phone
calls requesting to dye their elephant’s tusks as an experiment. At least three different zoos will
be needed to conduct this experiment to test three different environments. In each zoo, at least
two elephants will be knocked out, via tranquilizing dart, to stain their tusks with the dye that
was identified as best in the lab tests. The dyeing process may need to be repeated until the tusks
have been successfully stained. These elephants will then be observed twice a month for two
years, with visits alternating zoos every month. At the time of the visit, dye durability, behaviors
and the elephant’s health will be observed. If the stain had been removed or faded, tusks will be

re-stained. Any behaviors that are not normal to elephants, such anything affecting foraging,
dueling, or social behaviors will be noted. Health of the elephants will also be observed to see if
there were any side effects of the stain to their tusks.
After testing on elephants in zoos, the experiment will move onto dyeing elephant tusks
on elephants in the wild. Two different herds of at least three different elephants will be tested
on, preferably one group of savannah elephants and one group of forest elephants. The gender of
the elephant will be disregarded, however, they will need to have matured tusks. These elephants
will be darted to stain their tusks, and then tagged in the ear with a GPS tracker. These two
groups of elephants will be tracked down twice a month for two years to observe behaviors of
the elephants, the conditions of the tusks, and if the stains had been removed and needs
reapplying. Elephant behaviors with other elephants will be recorded along with foraging
behaviors. Health of the elephants will also be observed. These elephants will be observed for
two years, reapplying stains as needed. A follow up on these elephants will be made after three
more years to visit the elephants a last time to observe behaviors, conditions of their tusks, and
their health. If elephants were to survive the five years and keep the stains on their tusks, the
stains may have been successful in protecting these elephants from poaching in a way that does
not harm elephants.
Hypothesis 2 methods will then begin with surveying markets, ex-poachers, and the
general public. Surveys can then be created to send to markets to ivory salespeople through e-
mail. The survey will ask about their knowledge of illegal killings of elephants, if a different
colored tusk would sell, how much of their sales are due to ivory, and if they feel illegal ivory
trade should be banned. Knowing this information will provide valuable information in creating
the education component of this research.

Known ex-poachers can also be sent surveys through e-mail. This survey will ask how
dependent they were on selling ivory for sustainable income for living, how many elephants they
had killed, and why they stopped being a poacher. Then, the general public surrounding ivory
markets, where ivory is sold, can also be surveyed. This survey will ask if they possess an ivory
product in their homes and ask them to rate its value. The survey will also ask them about their
knowledge of illegal poaching of elephants and their opinion on it. This information can be very
useful and could be used in the education campaign.
An educational program would then be established based on the findings of these
surveys. Lectures will be taught to the general public surrounding ivory markets focusing on
increasing awareness of the illegal ivory trade and the effects it has on elephant populations. The
main goal is to change the minds of ivory customers and put an end to the ivory trade. A follow
up survey will be done one year after the educational program is started and will ask the general
public the same questions that were used before to see if the educational program had any
impacts.
For hypothesis 3, the next step toward elephant conservation is to track elephant mortality
rates in 60 sites across Africa. This can be done through a program designed by CITES called the
Monitoring the Illegal Killings of Elephants (MIKE), which evaluates and analyzes data
collected by rangers based on illegal killings found (CITES, 2015). After 5 years of observing
data provided by MIKE and PIKE, a higher number of experienced rangers should be placed in
sites that demonstrated higher rates of illegal killings. Governments in African countries would
be contacted through phone or e-mail and provided with sufficient data to indicate which areas to
require more enforcement. After establishing areas with more regulation, elephant populations

will be tracked annually for another five years to find results of either more or less poaching in
higher regulated areas.
While tracking elephant populations using MIKE, petitions will be made to allow Shoot-
to-Kill laws to be passed in more African countries. This law has been passed in some countries
in Africa, such as Zimbabwe and study has shown to be effective in increasing elephant
populations (Hutchens, 2014). The goal is to work with governments in legislation to extend this
law in more countries. Petitions will be sent to citizens of different African countries to sign.
Petitions will be promoted through the educational program or through an online website. At
least 100,000 signatures will be required before presenting to governments.
Timeline
The project is anticipated to last a total of 13 years.
Year 1
 Dyeing elephant tusk pieces in laboratory – this will take 3 months total
o Red wine, henna, ohaguro – requires 1 month for each dye
 Staining/soaking tusk pieces in water – 2 weeks each
 Observing stains – Every 3 days
 Observing durability from soaking in water - Every 2 days
 Removing stains with bleach – 30 minutes for each piece
 Begin observing populations using MIKE: This can be done while staining tusks
o Observed annually for 10 years – Twice a year in June and December
 Contacting Zoos will take 1 month
Year 2 – 3
 Dyeing zoo elephant tusks – Begins on Year 2 and ends before year 4 (2 years total)

o Elephants will be observed twice a month – one in the beginning, one at the end
of each month for 2 years
 Alternate zoos every 1 month
Year 4 – 6
 Finding two herds of elephants in Africa to use for experiment – This begins on year 4
and will take 1 month
 Dyeing wild elephant tusks, tracking and observing - Begins year 4 and ends before year
7 (2 years total)
o Tracking and observing elephants – Twice a month for two years
o Revisit elephants on year 10 – One time visits to each herd will take 2 weeks
 One visit per herd – This will take 1 week each
 Contact governments to present data collected from MIKE – This begins on Year 5 and
will take 1 month
o Post more rangers in weakly regulated areas
 More rangers will be posted on Year 5 to and patrol until Year 10 or
longer if the experiment works
Year 7
 Begin surveying ivory salespeople, ex-poachers, general public – This begins on year 7
and will take 6 months
 Put together an education program - Begins after surveying and will take 6 months
Year 8 – 12
 Run educational program – This will begin on Year 8 and end before Year 13 (5 years
total)

o Create a petition to expand shoot-to-kill laws – This will take 6 months beginning
on year 8, while running educational program
 Revisiting wild elephant herds – begins on Year 10 for 2 weeks
 Tracking elephant populations using MIKE ends before year 11
o Decide on the effectiveness through analyzing data collected – On year 11 for 3
months
o Data collected twice a year in June and December
Year 13
 Survey general public – This will take 6 months
Expected outcomes
For hypothesis 1, there are many things to be considered in order to dye the elephant
tusks to actually prove it to be effective. No such stain is currently available to meet the
requirements that would actually keep an elephant from being poached. However, this is a
preliminary experiment, so if this experiment were to work, I would expect this hypothesis to be
very effective in making elephants look less attractive to poachers and therefore prevent
elephants from being poached. Also, the stained ivory will make it easier for markets to detect
illegally obtained tusks. This may scare any poachers avoiding to get caught, so they may not
want to kill the elephant in the first place. I expect that if there was a dye that was able to stain an
elephant tusk, preferably a red or pink color, it will be able to decrease poaching to some extent.
Although, poachers may still kill elephants for meat or try to use other chemicals to return the
ivory to its white color. In my opinion, ohaguro would work as a dye that would work the best.
Ohaguro is a practice done by Japanese women that have permanently dyed their teeth a black

color (Mingren, 2016). It was also known that Ohaguro prevents tooth decay, which could be
beneficial for these elephants (Mingren, 2016).
For hypothesis 2, education to the general public should increase awareness about
elephants. I expect that this result will allow people to be more informed about the elephants and
where ivory comes from and where it is obtained. It may change people’s opinions on ivory if
they learned more about how it is collected from illegally killed elephants. If more people can
agree to be against the illegal ivory trade, the easier it will be to put an end to the ivory trade.
For hypothesis 3, I expect this method to be the most effective in improving the
population of elephants. Tracking elephant populations and poaching over several years will
allow us to determine the main locations where poaching happens. Locations where elephant
populations are in decline annually clearly needs increased patrols and regulation. I expect that
expanding a law that is used elsewhere, such as allowing rangers to shoot-to-kill poachers, in
more countries would decrease poaching. Killing people may not be the best solution to saving
the elephants, but it has shown to increase elephant population rates by 50% in Zimbabwe, where
shoot-to-kill poachers is legal (Hutchens, 2014). Statistics also show an increase of elephant
population in Kenya and Nepal, which are countries where shoot-to-kill is legal (Hutchens,
2014).
Researchsignificance/Implications/Future work
Ivory is the number one cause for illegal killings of elephants. In 2011 alone,
approximately 41,000 elephants have been killed due to illegal poaching (Wittemyer, 2014). It is
important to care for these elephants because the sole reason for killing them is for our own use
of ivory or human consumption. From a Christian stand point, we are to be stewards of the Earth
and caretakers of God’s creation. It is our responsibility to conserve the animals God has placed

on the same Earth that we live in. Even though the sins of man have caused trouble for these
elephants, as Christians we should redeem ourselves by defending these animals.
This research should create better enforcement, which will lead to increased protection of
elephants. Increased amount of park rangers and patrolling will be placed in sites that have
higher potential poaching. If a dye is found that can be used on elephant tusks, it should decrease
the value of ivory. Additionally public education may result in decreased poaching.
For future work, staining elephant tusks only on its exterior part of the tusk may not be
the best solution to devalue the tusk. In order to effectively decrease the tusk value, the whole
entire tusk, both inside and out, must be stained. As the tusks grows, it must grow in as the same
color for sustainability. A development of this kind of stain could lead to decreased value of
ivory. Another future work is to train elephants in zoos to apply dye onto their own tusks. Fagen,
Acharya and Kaufman (2014) had found that elephants can be trained using positive enforcement
to wash their trunks. If zoo employees were to successfully teach elephants, the need to use
tranquilizer darts to reapply stains may no longer be needed. If it was found that elephants were
to live normal lives with these tusks, remain healthy, and are able to keep their stained tusks,
another future work would be to work on positive reinforcement to wild elephants in Africa.
Conclusion
Elephants are magnificent creatures that are currently in crisis. Elephant populations have
been in exponential decline since the 1989 world-wide ban on ivory trade and have been
declining even before then. Poachers hunt elephants for their tusks made of ivory. Every year,
about 34,000 elephants die due to illegal poaching and something needs to be done about it
(Wittemeyer, 2014). It is important that these animals are saved from poaching because they
serve purpose in our environment and, if nothing is done about it, elephants may become extinct.

In order to conserve these animals, this paper proposes three different methods to decrease
poaching. Staining elephant tusks may decrease the value of ivory, along with education to the
public and markets, and establishing greater law enforcement to weakly enforced areas. It is
important to conserve these creatures as Christians in order to be stewards of God’s creation.

References
Archie, E. A., & Chiyo, P. I. (2012). Elephant behaviour and conservation: Social relationships,
the effects of poaching, and genetic tools for management. Molecular Ecology, 21(3), 765-
778. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05237.x
Basic facts about elephants. (2016). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from
http://www.defenders.org/elephant/basic-facts
Bennett, E. L. (2015). Legal ivory trade in a corrupt world and its impact on African elephant
populations. Conservation Biology, 29(1), 54-60. doi:10.1111/cobi.12377
Bouche, P., Douglas-Hamilton, I., Wittemyer, G., Nianogo, A. J., Doucet, J., Lejeune, P.,
Vermeulen, C. (2011). Will elephants soon disappear from West African savannahs? Plos
One, 6(6), 1-11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020619
Chelliah, K., & Sukumar, R. (2013). The role of tusks, musth and body size in male–male
competition among Asian Elephants, Elephas maximus. Animal Behaviour, 86(6), 1207-
1214. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.09.022
Chelliah, K., & Sukumar, R. (2015). Interplay of male traits, male mating strategies and female
mate choice in the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus. Behaviour, 152(7), 1113-1114.
doi:10.1163/1568539X-00003271
Elephant slaughter escalates as illegal ivory market thrives. (2013). Retrieved March 10, 2016,
from https://awionline.org/awi-quarterly/2013-winter/elephant-slaughter-escalates-illegal-
ivory-market-thrives

Fagen, A., Acharya, N., & Kaufman, G. E. (2014). Positive reinforcement training for a trunk
wash in Nepal's working elephants: Demonstrating alternatives to traditional elephant
training techniques. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 17(2), 83-97.
doi:10.1080/10888705.2014.856258
Hutchens, E. (2013). The law never forgets: An analysis of the elephant poaching crisis, failed
polices, and potential solutions. Wisconsin International Law Journal, 31(4), 934-962.
Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=108771278&site=ehost-
live&scope=site
Keyes, E. (2010). An elephant's tears. Retrieved March 10, 2016, from
http://www.awf.org/blog/elephants-tears
Maisels, F., Strindberg, S., Blake, S., Wittemyer, G., Hart, J., Williamson, E. A., et al. (2013).
Devastating decline of forest elephants in Central Africa. Plos One, 8(3), 1-13.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059469
Martin, E., & Vigne, L. (2015). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from
http://savetheelephants.org/about-ste/press-media/?detail=sharp-fall-in-the-prices-of-
elephant-tusks-in-china
Mingren, W. (2016). The allure of blackened teeth: A traditional Japanese sign of beauty.
Retrieved April/8, 2016, from http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-
traditions/allure-blackened-teeth-traditional-japanese-sign-beauty-005544?nopaging=1

Montazeri, S. (2013). Protecting the pachyderm: The significance of ivory trade regulation for
African elephant conservation. Cardozo Journal of International & Comparative Law,
22(1), 121-152. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=100966323&site=ehost-
live&scope=site
Mutinda, M., Chenge, G., Gakuya, F., Otiende, M., Omondi, P., Kasiki, S., et al. (2014).
Detusking fence-breaker elephants as an approach in human-elephant conflict mitigation.
Plos One, 9(3), 1-7. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091749
Pearson, C. (2011). Why does wine stain teeth?. Retrieved April/8, 2016, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/04/why-wine-stains-teeth_n_844181.html
Reid, A. (2015). Archaeological ivory and the impact of the elephant in Mawogola. World
Archaeology, 47(3), 467-485. doi:10.1080/00438243.2015.1029592
Rijkelijkhuizen, M. J., Kootker, L. M., & Davies, G. R. (2015). Multi-isotope analysis of
elephant ivory artefacts from Amsterdam: A preliminary provenance study. World
Archaeology, 47(3), 504-524. doi:10.1080/00438243.2015.1024884
Smith, R. J., Biggs, D., St. John, Freya A. V., Sas-Rolfes, M. '., & Barrington, R. (2015).
Elephant conservation and corruption beyond the ivory trade. Conservation Biology, 29(3),
953-956.

Trends in levels of illegal killing of elephants in Africa to 31 December 2015. (2015). Retrieved
April/8, 2016, from
https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/prog/MIKE/reports/MIKE_trend_update_2015.pdf
Wittemyer, G., Northrup, J. M., Blanc, J., Douglas-Hamilton, I., Omondi, P., & Burnham, K. P.
(2014). Illegal killing for ivory drives global decline in African elephants. Proceedings of
the National Academy of Science of the United States, 111(36), p13117.
Yokoyama, S., Takenaka, N., Agnew, D. W., & Shoshani, J. (2005). Elephants and human color-
blind deuteranopes have identical sets of visual pigments. Genetics, 170(1), 335-344.

Aaron Canda Senior Thesis Final Draft (1)

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to Aaron Canda Senior Thesis Final Draft (1)

Aaron Canda Senior Thesis Final Draft (1)