14 DAY TRIAL // A new report pieced together by members and supporters of green-oriented organization the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust says that, since the day it is born until it dies, an elephant is worth a whopping 1.6 million (€1.27 million).
By comparison, an elephant that is hunted down by poachers, brutally killed and stripped of its horns is only worthy about $21,000 (€16,730), the same report argues.
What this means is that one such endangered pachyderm is 76 times more valuable when alive than dead. Hence, be it purely for financial reasons, the world would do best to safeguard its remaining elephant population.
How can an elephant be worth this much?
Mind you, the $1.6-million elephants described in the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's report are not made of diamonds or anything of the sorts. On the contrary, they are regular pachyderms. You know, the kind with long tusks and an even longer trunk.
As explained by Mongabay, there are plenty of people in this world who are ready and willing to pay loads of money just to come face to face with one such creature in its natural habitat. Thus, eco-tourism is pretty much booming in regions inhabited by elephants.
In its report, the green-oriented organization details that, according to data at hand, it is not just the folks organizing safaris that benefit from people's love for elephants. Thus, travel companies, airlines and local economies all profit from the simple existence of these pachyderms.
A dead elephant is worth very little money. This is because, once the animal is killed and its tusks are removed, nobody in their right mind would want to snap a photo of it. What's more, ivory is now frowned upon on a global scale, which means poachers aren't making as much money as they used to.
“The value of elephant tourism is extremely high, with a living elephant worth a shocking 76 times more alive in the savanna than in the market place,” conservationist Rob Brandford with the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust said in a statement.
The importance of this report
This find that an elephant is worth much more alive than dead comes shortly after the World Wildlife Fund released a study saying that, between the years 1970 and 2010, the world lost well over 50% of its wildlife population.
Conservationists with the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust expect that, now that they have revealed the true worth of a live elephant and that of a dead one, countries populated by such pachyderms will step up efforts to keep them safe from poachers.
As Rob Brandford put it, “Protecting Africa’s elephants makes monetary sense and in the long term elephants are worth more alive roaming the world’s savannah and forests than their tusks are sitting on a mantle. That’s a powerful argument to convince policy makers.”
Furthermore, “In order to secure the long term future of the species, it is vital Governments understand the tangible benefits elephants can bring. Given the overlap of ivory poaching locations and elephant tourism operations, every elephant killed makes these regions much less profitable.”