Legend Jane Goodall inspires New Zealanders to save the elephants
By Jamie Joseph / NZ Herald
Jane Goodall visited New Zealand this month as part of her 80th birthday world tour, a celebration of sell out shows and standing ovations. Arguably the most recognized living scientist and conservationist; she is supported by millions of people around the globe who see her as an oracle for the future and an inspiration for all.
In 1986, at a conference that brought into view the mass destruction of natural habitats by humans, and the decimation of animal populations, the dreamer who had become a scientist came to the realisation that she could no longer go back to her quiet life with the chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe Forest. She decided to confront the world face to face, and so she became an activist and began travelling throughout the world, challenging everyone she meets to be care takers of the planet.
And now, with the African poaching crisis at its worst ever, with an elephant killed every 15 minutes, Jane Goodall is calling on New Zealanders to play their role in saving the elephants from looming extinction.
Her visit this month is timely because a petition has just been lodged with the New Zealand Government requesting a ban on all ivory trade. Spearheaded by Auckland teacher Virgina Woolf, and supported by environmental policy analyst Fiona Gordon, the report states that on a per capita basis for ivory carving imports from 2009 to 2012, New Zealand easily tops the United States, the world’s second largest consumer of ivory after China.
New Jersey and New York were neck and neck this month in the race to be the first U.S. states to ban ivory, and last month in Hong Kong officials began destroying a stockpile of nearly 30 tonnes of ivory seized from smugglers.
“Elephants suffer and they feel pain, and they have long term supportive bonds between family members,” says Goodall. “So it’s not just a species facing extinction, its massive individual suffering.”
New Zealand’s role in the trade of ivory makes the country complicit in this crisis, and the petition is calling on the government to strengthen laws and fix loopholes that are encouraging illicit trade. Elephants are continually put at risk by the prospect of a sanctioned sale of ivory whether in conventional auction houses such as Webbs Auction House in Auckland, or via internet trading sites such as Trademe.
“Every ivory bracelet, pendant or trinket represents a dead elephant,” says Goodall. “The problem is that as long as there are loopholes for selling ivory legally, the illegal trade will continue. A total ban on the sale of ivory is the only way forward. Social media can amplify the message and put pressure on your government, and ultimately it is up to us to give a voice to the voiceless.”
Every day is a bad day for elephants, but this month especially people around the world are mourning the death of Satao, Kenya’s legendary tusker, and one of the few remaining elephants whose tusks were so big they almost touched the ground. With so much death around him the mighty Satao knew the poachers were after his tusks, and he had taken to awkwardly zig zagging between bushes, burying his tusks into each bush, sniffing the air for poachers before moving on.
For the past 18 months Kenya Wildlife Services and Tsavo Trust jointly monitored Satao’s movements using aerial reconnaissance and deploying ground personnel in his home range. But with resources stretched to the limit, by the time they got to Satao his face had already been hacked off.
“There is that saying, we haven’t inherited the planet from our parents, we borrowed it from our children,” says Goodall. “But borrow means you plan to pay back, and we’ve been stealing. And that is why I am working so hard with youth to create a critical mass of young people empowered to be guardians of our natural world. They are my hope for the future.”
Jamie Joseph is a writer and an environmental activist. She grew up in South Africa and emigrated to New Zealand in 2009. From October she will join the rangers on the frontline, spending 30 days in the trenches across various poaching hot spots in Africa, and sharing stories from the ground up. The objective is to educate and inspire action, because everyone can do something to save the rhinos and elephants from extinction.
This story in print, NZ Herald Element Magazine, 30 June 2014.
Jane Goodall and Jamie Joseph discuss solutions to the elephant crisis. Auckland, June 2014.
Satao, the great tusker of Kenya, was found dead earlier this month with his face cut off. Image (c) Mark Deeble.