The Asian Elephant

     As habitat continues to dwindle, and human populations continue to grow, Asian elephants have been coming into conflict with people in Asia. The population of Asian elephants is already only one tenth the size of Africa's population of the animals, but in typical year, hundreds of the animals will be killed in clashes with humans, even though the animals are listed as a protected species under a United Nations agreement. However it turns out that the angry pachyderms also kill about hundreds of people in Asia each year. Commercial logging and clearing of land for agricultural purposes is held to blame for putting continuala pressure on the animals habitat, and when the animals begin eating farmers crops it is often kill or be killed.

According to a press release by Panda.org - the World Wildlife Federation hundreds of the animals are poisoned by angry farmers, shot, or killed for their tusks. The killing of bull elephants for their ivory tusks often results in a shortage of male elephants for breeding, and with the populations of Asian elephants already so low, it also seriously impacts the genetic diversity of the species. In response to the destructin of Habitat, the World Wildlife Federation would like to see governments establish sound practices in the logging industry and stricter enforcement of the ban on trading in products derived from the elephants, under the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). In Thailand, elephants are worked like slaves in the illegal logging industry, while, after such logging was banned in Thailand, other 'out of work' elephants are often neglected, abused and underfed by their owners. The drive for profit is a big factor in the decline of the elephant population and the destruction of habitat that is taking place, and for this reason the WWF is attempting to encourage richer nation to help poorer nations deal with the problem financially.