Niyati Vyas

Mr. Finn Period 2

5.16.18
Symposium Outline

I. Intro
A. Living in Iowa, most of us have never seen an elephant, rhino, or tiger in the wild.
We don’t have much exposure to poaching and its effects, but I did my best to
find out.

II. Narration
A. History
1. Poaching is the illegal hunting and harvesting of game, either for sport, or
for sale. (Poaching)
B. Ivory trade/status symbols
1. The ivory trade is the commercial and often illegal trade of ivory tusks. It
is a lucrative business, generating about $20 billion per year (armstrong).
2. Ivory is also a status symbol in Africa. Lots of jewelry and decorative
items can be made from ivory. Same with rhino horn. About one kg of
rhino horn is worth $65,000 (Orenstein).
C. Uses
1. Some of the harvested parts can be used for many purposes. For example,
the skin of elephants can be used for leather or for some medicinal
products (Smithsonian).
D. Laws
1. In the US there is a case by case allowal of hunters bringing in big game
or tusks, etc. This law was approved in march of this year overturning
Obama’s ban (Nuwer).

III. Division
A. Agree
1. Everyone agrees that killing animals is not a good thing. No one wants to
see a species go extinct.
B. Disagree
1. But where some people disagree is if the end justifies the means. Many
say that yes the endangering of these animals is horrible, but in the end the
profits are worth it. The ivory trade is such a large operation with such a
great profit that it cannot be interrupted. Others say that there is no
 justifying the mass killings of these animals and that poaching and illegal
trade should be eradicated.
C. Solutions
1. There are many potential solutions that have been thrown around over the
past few decades. One is that we safely and painlessly remove horns and
tusks so that poachers can never get them and the ivory trade will end
(Orenstein).
2. Another is that we get our supply of ivory from already deceased
elephants that died from natural causes. This way we can legalize the
ivory trade and still keep these animals from going extinct (Walker).
3. We could also ban ivory and increase the penalty for wildlife crime. This
would reduce the incentive to poach and stop the ivory trade. For example,
in China, they voted to have a full ban of ivory by 2021 with the exception
for cultural relics (Bischoff)
4. Poachers
a) Educate them so they won’t want to do it
b) Children educated and stopped hunting (Illegal)

IV. Proof
A. Claim
1. I think poaching should be stopped and we must find a better way to
supply the ivory demand. We should collect ivory from elephants who
died a natural death and supply the ivory trade with that.
B. Reason 1 ⇒ Extinction
1. Many animals are going extinct due to poaching. Life is very complex and
messing with its flow creates an imbalance in nature (Illegal). The decline
of African Elephants has been quite drastic. One elephant is killed every
25 minutes (Armstrong). We went from having about 1.4 million in 1979
to only about 600,000 in 1987 (Gobush). That is a loss of 800,000
elephants in 8 years.
2. In tanzania, there has been a population decline of 60% from 2006-2017.
South Africa is facing local extinction within the decade (Poaching).
3. And it is not only elephants. Tigers are also very critically endangered due
to poaching. The tiger population in india went from 3600 in 2002 to 1400
just 5 years later (Tiger). The Indochinese tigers are at the brink of
extinction with only about 320 left as of 2010 (Illegal).
4. Rhinos are facing a similar problem. The last male white rhino died just
earlier this year, dooming the species.
 5. The javan rhino is also critically endangered. The only ones left are living
in a nature reserve in Indonesia (Orenstein). Poaching of rhinos has
increased by 7,700% between 2007 and 2013 (Illegal).
6. “It’s war, and in Africa’s killing fields the poachers are winning.”
(Orenstein)
C. Reason 2 ⇒ Humans hurt
1. Not only are the animals being hurt, but so are many people including
rangers and poachers.
2. Since 2006, over 1000 park rangers have been killed. 80% of these deaths
were due to poachers and militia groups. Wayne Lotte, the organizer of a
conservation foundation in Africa was murdered by poachers in Aug of
2017 (Poaching).
3. But it is not completely the poachers fault. Big poaching organizations
recruit extremely poor locals to do the poaching. These locals have no
other options and need the money to survive. They live in extreme poverty
and any money, no matter where it comes from, will help them feed their
families (Illegal). You can’t blame them for wanting to keep their loved
ones alive.
4. Many poachers grew up around poaching. All they knew was hunting
from a very young age. They were never told it was wrong and thought
that this was how it was supposed to be (Segedin).
5. When poachers are punished for their crimes, its the locals who are
punished, not the big corporations who are really at fault (Illegal). These
poachers are expendable to the big corporations and they will do nothing
to help them.
D. Summary
1. So basically, poaching leads to extinction. And not just are the animals
being hurt, but so are rangers and the poachers themselfs.
E. Explanation
1. If we collect ivory tusks, tiger hides, and rhino horns from animals that die
a natural death, then everyone will be happy. Poaching will end, saving
the lives of many endangered species, people will get the goods that they
demand, and no one will need to die. We can continue to help endangered
animals and take them away from extinction.

V. Refutation
A. In China, 70% of people believe that elephant tusks grow back like teeth. This
rumor is encouraged by dealers and poachers (Orenstein). In Vietnam, it is
believed that rhino horns cure cancer. This has lead to the price being as high as
 gold (Illegal). You can’t trust these big ivory and big game organizations who
benefit from poaching. If they are lying to you about these things, then what else
are they lying about?
B. Some think that legalizing the ivory trade will make poaching rates go down. But
that is completely counterintuitive. In South Africa and Namibia, they now allow
a maximum of 5 black rhino horns per person per year. They thought this would
help decrease poaching, but instead poaching escalated. Between 2007 and 2009,
about 240 black rhinos were killed, and 95% of those were in the 2 countries
(Orenstein). Wildlife with a price tag is more at risk (Alessi).

VI. Conclusion
A. Final Summary
1. Poaching is harmful to everyone. Animals are close to extinction and
people’s lives are being ruined.
B. Clincher
1. Imagine a world where there are no tigers, elephants, rhinos, whales,
gorillas, turtles, etc. Think about the future generations. Do you really
want to have to explain to your children or grandchildren what an elephant
looks like? If we do not do something to protect these animals, then we are
failing as citizens of this earth.
2. I encourage you to speak up if you see evidence of poaching in Iowa by
calling the TIP hotline at 1 800 532 2020 or filling out their confidential
online form (Iowa). Educate others on the effects of poaching and do not
support poachers or the ivory trade. For more information on how you can
help, visit WWF website and donate.