危機四伏-懷璧其罪

Lives under Threat – Doomed by Natural Endowment

不論是亞洲象還是非洲象的數量，在這一百年間急遽下降，數量減少最大原因為人類，人類對稀有物品的慾望，為了象牙及皮毛而盜獵大象，將盜獵的象牙雕刻成工藝品、製成印章或鋼琴琴鍵等，為了滿足人類的炫耀心態而濫殺無辜。
盜獵象牙是殘忍又血腥的過程。象牙不像人類的乳齒會自然脫落，象牙根部深入臉頰，即便象牙撞斷也只會繼續生長不會脫落，盜獵者為了取象牙必須殺害大象，才能砍下頭部取得牠們的象牙。盜獵者殘忍的行為還包含，殺害有象牙的母象，造成幼小的象沒有母象哺乳而死亡。
「沒有買賣 就沒有殺害」只要杜絕買賣象牙，大象也就不用生活在恐懼中。

Both African and Asian elephants have been dwindling in population over the past century, mostly because of the demand for their tusks. Poachers hunt elephants in order to harvest tusks and hides that are turned into ornamental objects ranging from stamp chops to piano keys. Elephants are slaughtered for sheer vanity.
Ivory harvesting is a cruel and bloody procedure. Tusks are deeply rooted in the elephant’s face and do not easily fall out on their own like human baby teeth. If an elephant snaps a tusk in a fight, it can grow back, but in order to take tusks from elephants, poachers first kill the animals, decapitate them, then extract tusks out of their heads. If a female is slaughtered for her tusks, the calves in the herd could starve without her milk.

“Without ivory consumption, there would be no poaching.” Only by boycotting ivory trade can we free elephants from living in fear.

重重路障-棲地喪失

Roadblocks on the Elephants’ Path – Loss of Habitats

隨著人口不斷增加，大象的棲息地被人類開發成居住地、作物生產區及道路等，原本完整的棲息地被劃分零碎化，而且大象又需要廣大的生活空間，牠們原本不會待在人類的地方，當大象與人類的空間有重疊時就產生了人象衝突。
大象為了覓食來到人類的作物生產區，看到現成的食物，牠們會直接採食，農夫不想損失作物或是自保，便會用毒藥毒殺大象或是以各種手段殺害大象。此外，棲息地零碎化造成環境的阻隔，讓大象的擇偶選擇變少，近親交配繁殖導致物種適應力降低，使族群逐漸衰退。

As a result of human population growth, elephant habitat is appropriated for roads, farms and urban development. The places where elephants used to roam are now segmented and disjointed. Furthermore, with no access to wide open spaces which are essential for survival, elephants are forced into direct confrontations with humans when they are displaced from their homes and overlapping occurs among human and elephant habitats.
When elephants wonder upon farms and plantations and forage on agricultural crops, farmers poison and kill them. Furthermore, the fragmentation of elephant habitat reduces their choices for mating. Breeding with close relatives results in the gradual decline in the species’ fitness for survival.

是保護還是傷害-無牙象

A Blessing or a Curse? – Tuskless Elephants

因盜獵者獵殺有象牙的大象，生存下來的大多是無象牙的大象或是幼象。無象牙的大象原本屬於大象族群中較劣勢的一群，在物競天擇下是會被自然淘汰，因為盜獵緣故牠們暫時得以存活。不過沒有象牙，牠們無法剝樹皮、挖水，缺少競爭工具，無法保護自己及幼象，且有很高的機率繁殖無象牙的下一代，未來環境若更惡劣，無牙象將無法適應環境，讓族群逐漸走向滅絕。

Poachers slaughter elephants for their tusks, leaving elephants without tusks to mate and reproduce. From the perspective of natural selection, these tuskless elephants would have been the disadvantaged ones who might have been eliminated by nature, but elephants without them are the ones surviving the immediate threat of poaching. . Without tusks, these elephants are unable to break off tree bark or find water in the ground, nor are they able to effectively protect their herd. Yet, thanks to the poachers, these inferior traits are now flourishing in the wild. If natural habitats deteriorate further, tuskless elephants won’t be able to cope with new adversities and their herds will perish.