Tuesday Map: Tracking ivory poachers

African elephants are under threat again despite a 1989 ban on poaching the animals for their ivory tusks. A new study led by Samuel K. Wasser of the University of Washington estimated that around 23,000 elephants were killed illegally in 2006 alone, or one in twelve of the entire African population (when you exclude Botswana).

The striking finding is yet another sign that Asia’s economic boom is having unexpected consequences around the world, since ivory is highly coveted in Japan and China for use in jewelry and for “hankos,” cross sections of the tusk that are popular for use as stamps. Since the world largely lost interest in protecting African elephants during the 1990s, wholesale prices for ivory have skyrocketed to $750 per kilogram in those countries, turning tusk smuggling into a highly lucrative business and decimating the elephant population.

That’s not all Wasser and his colleagues found. Taking DNA data information from the largest 535 pieces from a huge cache of smuggled ivory seized in 2002 by the authorities in Singapore, the interdisciplinary team of researchers used a new method to narrow down the range of possible geographic origins for the seized ivory. They quickly ruled out forested areas, honing in on the savanna that crosses the south-central portion of the continent. Their finding embarrassed the government of Zambia, which had claimed in documents that only 135 elephants had been killed illegally in the 10 years prior to the seizure, a number far below Wasser’s estimate.

Holding African states accountable is key to halting what Wasser calls “a widespread slaughter of elephants that is getting worse by the day.” But countries like Zambia have few resources with which to combat sophisticated ivory smuggling networks with deep pockets and international reach. Saving African elephants from possible extinction will require a global approach, Wasser argues, including public awareness campaigns in Asia (enlisting, say, Yao Ming as an advocate could help) and international aid to overwhelmed African governments. After all, the international community was able to halt the spread of poaching before, in 1989. Now that the scientific tools for tracking poachers are becoming more advanced, it’s just a question of will.