Elephants and Ivory

Celebrating three decades of Pulse of the Planet, here’s a program from our archives.

Ambience elephants

The sounds of elephants. In Africa, thousands of elephants have been illegally hunted and killed for their ivory. Now an international effort is turning the tide against the poachers. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Celebrating three decades of Pulse of the Planet, here’s a program from our archives.

Leakey: Kenya used to have a very big elephant population. Fifteen years ago we probably had sixty-five to seventy thousand animals. As a result of uncontrolled poaching, by the end of 1988, the total had dropped to somewhere around seventeen – eighteen thousand.”

Richard Leakey is director of Kenya’s Wildlife Services.

Leakey: During ’89, Kenya, together with a number of other nations, brought a lot of pressure to bear and international action was taken to ban the trade in ivory. As a result of the ban, the price of ivory collapsed, and ivory today is very difficult to sell. Three hundred dollars a kilo two years ago is now represented by maybe forty dollars a kilo. The net effect of this is that people are not killing elephants. At least they’re not killing them at a rate that is in any way worrying. We have lost thirty one elephants in Kenya by late October, whereas last year we lost three hundred, and the year before we lost three thousand. So there’s been a dramatic change. I think the elephant population has not only stabilized, but will begin to increase.

But an increase in the elephant population will create new challenges. In Kenya for example, the parks can no longer sustain large elephant herds.

Leakey: How we achieve population stability without reintroducing culling, I’m not sure, but we’re looking at the possibility of introducing contraception, where through hormonal implants and immunization programs, we can actually take breeding females out of the reproductive process, on a reversible basis. I feel that this may well be the long-term solution to Africa’s elephant needs.

This archival program is part of our thirtieth anniversary celebration. If you want hear more, check out our podcast.

Elephants and Ivory

Remembering the late Richard Leakey, famed anthropologist and conservationist. In a 1989 interview with Jim, he unveiled his strategy to protect Kenya's elephants.

Air Date:04/04/2022

Scientist:

Transcript:

Elephants and Ivory Celebrating three decades of Pulse of the Planet, here's a program from our archives. Ambience elephants The sounds of elephants. In Africa, thousands of elephants have been illegally hunted and killed for their ivory. Now an international effort is turning the tide against the poachers. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Celebrating three decades of Pulse of the Planet, here's a program from our archives. Leakey: Kenya used to have a very big elephant population. Fifteen years ago we probably had sixty-five to seventy thousand animals. As a result of uncontrolled poaching, by the end of 1988, the total had dropped to somewhere around seventeen - eighteen thousand." Richard Leakey is director of Kenya's Wildlife Services. Leakey: During '89, Kenya, together with a number of other nations, brought a lot of pressure to bear and international action was taken to ban the trade in ivory. As a result of the ban, the price of ivory collapsed, and ivory today is very difficult to sell. Three hundred dollars a kilo two years ago is now represented by maybe forty dollars a kilo. The net effect of this is that people are not killing elephants. At least they're not killing them at a rate that is in any way worrying. We have lost thirty one elephants in Kenya by late October, whereas last year we lost three hundred, and the year before we lost three thousand. So there's been a dramatic change. I think the elephant population has not only stabilized, but will begin to increase. But an increase in the elephant population will create new challenges. In Kenya for example, the parks can no longer sustain large elephant herds. Leakey: How we achieve population stability without reintroducing culling, I'm not sure, but we're looking at the possibility of introducing contraception, where through hormonal implants and immunization programs, we can actually take breeding females out of the reproductive process, on a reversible basis. I feel that this may well be the long-term solution to Africa's elephant needs. This archival program is part of our thirtieth anniversary celebration. If you want hear more, check out our podcast.