Protect Elephants from Poaching and Trophy Hunting

Elephants are among the most charismatic and beloved of animals, and copious time, money, and effort go into protecting this majestic species. This World Elephant Day marks an important opportunity to reflect on how far elephant protection has come and some of the contemporary challenges focusing on two areas: poaching and trophy hunting.

Poaching

The good news is that the latest World Wildlife Report from the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) suggests that the ivory market is in decline and poaching is trending downward overall.

The international commercial trade ban in elephant ivory is a major driving force of elephant protection. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) first banned international ivory trade in 1989, and although two one-off sales of ivory stockpiles have occurred, the ban remains in effect today.

Arguably, the stockpile sales in 1999 and 2008 led to increases in poaching. From 2007 to 2014, one-third of savannah elephants were lost across Africa, and during the same time forest elephant populations suffered an 86% decline in individuals. The elevated poaching and enforcement concerns have so far prevented the CITES Parties from approving any further ivory sales. Close to 15 years without a sanctioned sale of ivory appears to have helped draw down overall poaching rates.

The trade ban, coupled with the closure of important domestic markets in China, the U.S., the European Union, and Thailand has majorly constrained the ivory market. According to recent reporting, ivory prices sunk in 2023, dropping to under 200 USD/kilogram of raw ivory. This data suggests that both supply and demand-side interventions are working to ensure that elephants can live a free-roaming life.

The concerning news is the ongoing chatter about elephant range States pushing to reopen ivory markets again, or if CITES doesn’t acquiesce, withdraw from the treaty. During the second half of 2025, CITES Parties and stakeholders, like the Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment (GLA) at Lewis & Clark Law School, will come together once again to determine the fate of the African elephant. As we await that important meeting, GLA will work to support and uphold the global ban on commercial ivory trade; work with governments, other lawyers, and advocates to ensure strong national-level legal protections; and educate future generations of elephant advocates.

Trophy Hunting

Yet another area of concern for elephants is the recent resurgence of trophy hunting in Tanzania.

In the savannas of Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, elephants move freely under Mount Kilimanjaro’s shadow. However, across the border in Tanzania, these majestic animals face a lethal threat from trophy hunters. This is due to the stark contrast in the two countries’ conservation approaches. While Kenya relies solely on wildlife tourism, Tanzania permits regulated big-game hunting, citing economic benefits.

Since September 2023, five bull elephants, including rare super tuskers, have been killed near the Kenya-Tanzania border. This surge in killings, unseen since the mid-1990s, reflects a collapse of a long-standing, informal ban between Kenya and Tanzania on hunting elephants near the Kenyan border.

The killings have sparked outrage in Kenya and raised concerns about the future of Amboseli’s elephants, crucial for their ecological and social roles within their own nonhuman communities. Conservationists are urging Tanzania to reinstate the ban to protect Amoboseli’s elephants. GLA supports the call to bring elephant hunting to a halt along the Tanzania/Kenya border.

On this World Elephant Day, it is important to celebrate the progress we’ve made, such as the important reductions in the ivory trade. But there remain many threats to elephants, such as trophy hunting and so many others not addressed in this blog, including: habitat destruction, climate change, human-wildlife conflicts, and more. Our clinic and its alums have a long history of supporting elephant protection, and we continue to work with allied partners in this fight for many more years.

This blog was written by Erica Lyman, Clinical Professor and Director of the Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment. Professor Lyman has over fifteen years of experience in international environmental law, with a strong focus on wildlife protection issues. GLA was launched in the fall of 2020 as an innovative collaboration of the Center for Animal Law Studies and the top-ranked Environmental Law Program at Lewis & Clark Law School. GLA champions wild animals and wild spaces around the world. Law students (JD and LLM) actively participate in GLA’s work for academic credit.

The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) was founded in 2008 with a mission to educate the next generation of animal law advocates and advance animal protection through the law. With vision and bold risk-taking, CALS has since developed into a world-renowned animal law epicenter. CALS’ Alumni-in-Action from 30 countries are making a difference for animals around the world. CALS is a self-funded Center within the law school operating under the Lewis & Clark College 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and is able to provide these educational opportunities through donations and grants.