continue to, receive based solely on tourism. If the number of elephants throughout the continent continue to decrease at the present rate, tourism numbers will decrease as well and the country, as a whole, will be greatly negatively affected.
Supporting Argument #3: As of 2013, 1.1 billion human beings lived on the continent of Africa (World Population Review, 2015). That is a relatively large number, in comparison to the other continents, with Asia being the exception. While not all of Africa is as beautiful as images circling the Internet may make it seem, people inhabit most parts of the countries and would like to feel safe in their community. Due to the increase of poaching of elephants, however, one can see a correlation with the decrease of safety and threat to local communities. An article titled “How Killing Elephants Finances Terror in Africa”, the author says, “…Militias and terrorist groups funded in part by ivory are poaching elephants, often outside their home countries, and even hiding inside national parks. They’re looting communities, enslaving people, and killing park rangers who get in their way” (Christy, 2015). These militia leaders and their members do not care much about the well-being of the locals in the communities nor the lives of these grand, healthy elephants; all they truly care about is killing the elephants and receiving the money that they believe they so rightfully deserve. Through placing and sustaining a ban on the trade of ivory, these militia and terrorist groups would no longer have the funds to exist nor would they have a reason to continue doing such harm. Rebuttal Argument: While there is a numerous amount of proponents for the illegalization of the trade of ivory, there are just as many humans who would argue that the trade of ivory should be legalized. One possible argument why the ivory trade should be legalized in order to save elephants is because it will result in less poaching and criminal activity as ivory will still be readily available from elephants that die a natural, peaceful death. Additionally, the trade of ivory would be based out of countries that have a stable elephant population and are in agreeance with the law in regards to illicit trafficking, as set in place by CITES (Walker, 2014). Response #1 to Rebuttal Argument: Ivory may be an extremely valuable commodity as of late; however, if the trade of it were to be legalized, prices would rise greatly for consumers due to the cost of legal markets. These costs of the legal market include administration, processing the registration and control systems, producing the paperwork and permits, and the cost of implementation, enforcement, and prosecution. In addition to a rise in cost, as stated in a National Geographic article by Christina Russo, "once illegal ivory has entered the legal trade, it's difficult or impossible for enforcement officers to know what's legal …show more content…
In an article on TIME, the author quotes the president and CEO of The Humane Society in saying, “This is an issue not just about protecting elephants, but alleviating poverty, spurring economic growth, and fighting off people intent on destroying governments and terrorizing communities…Here’s a case where protecting wildlife is bound inextricably with core concerns about economic and national security” (Worland, Obama Announces Major Restrictions on Ivory Trade, 2015). Additionally, as stated in several different articles in regards to the trade of ivory, it is relatively difficult to distinguish between ivory obtained through illegal poaching or legally acquired ivory; therefore, there is not much of a purpose in legalizing it. In an article titled “Proposed U.S. ban on ivory trade faces powerful foe”, the author says, "Our criminal investigations and anti-smuggling efforts have clearly shown legal ivory trade can serve as a cover for illegal trade," according to the agency. "As just one example, Service and state officers seized more than $2 million-worth of illegal elephant ivory from two New York City retail stores in 2012” (Gibson, 2015). Rather than creating havoc and spending valuable time figuring out how the ivory originated, the trade of ivory as a whole should remain illegal throughout the world. If the trade of ivory were to be made legal, ivory prices would increase dramatically and the accessibility to elephants would not be as frequent as consumers would need to wait for their natural death to obtain their tusks as
Supporting Argument #3: As of 2013, 1.1 billion human beings lived on the continent of Africa (World Population Review, 2015). That is a relatively large number, in comparison to the other continents, with Asia being the exception. While not all of Africa is as beautiful as images circling the Internet may make it seem, people inhabit most parts of the countries and would like to feel safe in their community. Due to the increase of poaching of elephants, however, one can see a correlation with the decrease of safety and threat to local communities. An article titled “How Killing Elephants Finances Terror in Africa”, the author says, “…Militias and terrorist groups funded in part by ivory are poaching elephants, often outside their home countries, and even hiding inside national parks. They’re looting communities, enslaving people, and killing park rangers who get in their way” (Christy, 2015). These militia leaders and their members do not care much about the well-being of the locals in the communities nor the lives of these grand, healthy elephants; all they truly care about is killing the elephants and receiving the money that they believe they so rightfully deserve. Through placing and sustaining a ban on the trade of ivory, these militia and terrorist groups would no longer have the funds to exist nor would they have a reason to continue doing such harm. Rebuttal Argument: While there is a numerous amount of proponents for the illegalization of the trade of ivory, there are just as many humans who would argue that the trade of ivory should be legalized. One possible argument why the ivory trade should be legalized in order to save elephants is because it will result in less poaching and criminal activity as ivory will still be readily available from elephants that die a natural, peaceful death. Additionally, the trade of ivory would be based out of countries that have a stable elephant population and are in agreeance with the law in regards to illicit trafficking, as set in place by CITES (Walker, 2014). Response #1 to Rebuttal Argument: Ivory may be an extremely valuable commodity as of late; however, if the trade of it were to be legalized, prices would rise greatly for consumers due to the cost of legal markets. These costs of the legal market include administration, processing the registration and control systems, producing the paperwork and permits, and the cost of implementation, enforcement, and prosecution. In addition to a rise in cost, as stated in a National Geographic article by Christina Russo, "once illegal ivory has entered the legal trade, it's difficult or impossible for enforcement officers to know what's legal …show more content…
In an article on TIME, the author quotes the president and CEO of The Humane Society in saying, “This is an issue not just about protecting elephants, but alleviating poverty, spurring economic growth, and fighting off people intent on destroying governments and terrorizing communities…Here’s a case where protecting wildlife is bound inextricably with core concerns about economic and national security” (Worland, Obama Announces Major Restrictions on Ivory Trade, 2015). Additionally, as stated in several different articles in regards to the trade of ivory, it is relatively difficult to distinguish between ivory obtained through illegal poaching or legally acquired ivory; therefore, there is not much of a purpose in legalizing it. In an article titled “Proposed U.S. ban on ivory trade faces powerful foe”, the author says, "Our criminal investigations and anti-smuggling efforts have clearly shown legal ivory trade can serve as a cover for illegal trade," according to the agency. "As just one example, Service and state officers seized more than $2 million-worth of illegal elephant ivory from two New York City retail stores in 2012” (Gibson, 2015). Rather than creating havoc and spending valuable time figuring out how the ivory originated, the trade of ivory as a whole should remain illegal throughout the world. If the trade of ivory were to be made legal, ivory prices would increase dramatically and the accessibility to elephants would not be as frequent as consumers would need to wait for their natural death to obtain their tusks as