The ceremonial burning was lit by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in a move that absolutely eclipsed any destruction of illegal wildlife goods in the past. 105 tons of elephant ivory, 1.35 tons of rhino horn, and other products such as sandalwood, medicinal bark, and exotic animal skins were a part of the blaze.

 

So what exactly is all of this product worth? That depends on perspective. The dollar figure climbs above $172 million dollars in value, but to Kenyans it isn't about the money: ivory is only as valuable as the living animal it is attached to.

 

According to CNN, a live elephant can generate 76 times more in tourism revenue than it would for its ivory - as wildlife tourism makes up roughly 12% of Kenya's GDP.

 

While this overpowering display has definitely sent a message, the future for these animals still may look grim. Every 15 minutes an elephant is killed for its tusks, and over 1,300 rhinos were poached in Africa last year, marking 6 straight years of continuous increase.

 

In addition, throughout other parts of Africa there are governments in financial disarray who are finding it hard to resist turning to the confiscated ivory and horn as a potential source of revenue.

 

Fortunately, Kenya is no such country. In 1989 the Kenya Wildlife Service came up with an idea: kill the market, kill the poaching. At the time Kenya was losing around 4,000 elephants per year to poaching. Once the first burn took place (only 12 tons of ivory at the time) it took a mere 6 months to see poaching virtually stop in 1990. For nearly 10 years the market remained dead in Kenya and dramatically decreased in surrounding areas.

 

However, corruption has a way of sneaking in. Illegal ivory has certainly made a comeback and is trading higher than it ever has in the past. The hope is that a burn of this scale will encourage a 100% ban on the elephant ivory trade, whether domestically or in international markets.

 

But the message is not meant to be purely grim. The Kenya Wildlife Service also wants to encourage the belief that there is value in ecotourism and by translation, there is an incredible value to conserving an elephant's life (a far greater value than a piece of ivory could ever bring). Placing value on a wild animal like the African elephant begins with the children of the local communities in West Africa, Burkina-Faso, Kenya, and beyond. This is our shared belief at the Rare Species Fund, TIGERS Preserve, and Myrtle Beach Safari which is why Bubbles the elephant is such an important figure within our organizations. We encourage young people to witness interactions with Bubbles allowing for learning through a hands-on approach. This approach has been very successful for us as well as our African partner on the ground, the International Elephant Foundation (IEF).
The IEF supports elephant conservation and education both in managed facilities and in the wild. One example of the many projects supported with funding from the Rare Species Fund is in Burkina-Faso and West Africa where the human population will triple by 2050! IEF's philosophy is simple...people protect what they appreciate. And we appreciate what we know intimately. More than 80% of the children who took part in the IEF educational program had never seen an elephant before. Now hundreds of children along with their families are involved in long-term elephant conservation. Such efforts connect local populations to their African wildlife heritage and build a rapport with nature that had all but faded into history.