Preserving the African Elephant for Future Generations

The paper assesses the escalating poaching crisis of African elephants, driven by ivory demand in Asia, particularly China. It proposes a strategic framework prioritizing targeted demand reduction and reinforced anti-poaching efforts, while cautioning that domestic trade bans are only effective as complements. The author emphasizes the need for range states to coordinate the simultaneous disposal of ivory stockpiles to remove incentives for criminal syndicates and to increase the 'use value' of elephants for local communities through eco-tourism and payment for ecosystem services (PES) to prevent habitat conversion.

• African elephant populations are declining at an unsustainable rate, with approximately 100,000 elephants killed illegally between 2010 and 2012, exceeding the species' intrinsic growth capacity.
• Ivory demand is heterogeneous and consists of three distinct consumer segments: high-end investors who view ivory as an inflation-proof asset (potentially exhibiting 'Giffen' behaviour), prestige seekers using it for status and gift-giving, and lower-end consumers purchasing affordable trinkets.
• Demand reduction campaigns are most efficient when specifically targeted at the most price-inelastic consumers (investors and prestige seekers) to shift the demand curve inwards and significantly reduce prices.
• Criminal syndicates may employ a 'banking on extinction' strategy, where they stockpile ivory in anticipation of higher future prices once the species becomes extinct and CITES trade bans no longer apply.
• Domestic ivory trade bans are likely to be ineffective in isolation, especially in regions with weak rule of law, and should instead complement demand reduction and anti-poaching strategies to lower law enforcement transaction costs.
• Range states face a collective action problem (a prisoner's dilemma) regarding ivory stockpiles; the author argues that simultaneous and continuous disposal of stockpiles is a necessary 'credible commitment device' to signal the end of the trade.
• To prevent the conversion of elephant habitats to agriculture or other land uses, policymakers must increase the 'use value' of elephants for local communities through eco-tourism and payment for ecosystem services (PES).
• The game-theoretic model suggests a mixed strategy is optimal: initial capital should be directed toward demand reduction and anti-poaching, with efforts to ban domestic trades following once the first two strategies have succeeded.

APA

Harvey, R. (2015). Preserving the African Elephant for Future Generations. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Occasional-Paper-219.pdf

Chicago

Harvey, Ross. Preserving the African Elephant for Future Generations. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2015. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Occasional-Paper-219.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Harvey |first1=Ross |title=Preserving the African Elephant for Future Generations |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=July 2015 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Occasional-Paper-219.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{harvey2015preserving, author = {Harvey, Ross}, title = {{Preserving the African Elephant for Future Generations}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2015}, month = jul, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Occasional-Paper-219.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }