These staggering statistics show not only how much more an elephant is worth alive than it is dead, but just how far elephant poaching affects local economies and human life in the long run.
15 minutes
How often an elephant is slaughtered by ivory poachers.
76 times more
How much more an elephant is worth alive than it is dead. An elephant tusk can sell for $21,000 on the black market, but a single living elephant can draw billions of dollars over the course of its lifetime if properly taken care of.
$22,966 per year
The amount of money tourism can accumulate per year from a single elephant. Elephants draw in visitors to national parks and wildlife refuges in many parts of Africa and Asia, providing capital to local communities in developing nations.
90 percent
The amount of elephants that Zakouma National Park in Chad has lost since 2002 due to poaching and illegal activity.
$1,607,624.83
How much a healthy adult elephant could have contributed to the local economy over the course of its lifetime, had it been kept alive.
300
The amount of tusks collected and sold that funded terrorism by Seleka rebelswhen they overthrew the Central African Republic (CAR) government. Poachers often profit off of elephant slaughter as a means to fund human slaughter as well. In 2008 800 people were killed by Kony, whose army was likely heavily supplied with guns and ammunition paid for from dead elephants.
70 years
The average lifespan of a healthy elephant is only slightly lower than the average life expectancy of a human being (78.8). However, female elephants typically produce offspring every 3 to 5 years, meaning that the rate of reproductive activity is much slower and therefore the potential to wipe out populations in any given area is much higher.
35,000
How many elephants will die each year by poachers looking to kill for the sole purpose of selling ivory.
$44,554,844
How much money has already been lost to tourism due to the slaughter of elephants.-