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14 Fletcher F. World Aff. 284 (1990)
Jumping on the Ban Wagon: Efforts to Save the African Elephant

handle is hein.journals/forwa14 and id is 298 raw text is: JUMPING ON THE BAN WAGON: EFFORTS TO SAVE THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT DAVID HARLANDI According to Rudyard Kipling, the original home of the elephant was the country around the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River.2 Some conser- vationists are now arguing that the Limpopo River, which marks the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa, may also turn out to be the last home of the African elephant. They argue that attempts to save the elephant by banning the ivory trade are counter-productive, and that a wiser course of action would be to ignore the ban and instead adopt a policy of economic management.3 The Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) has played a vital role in the controversy unfolding over the fate of the elephant, which may ultimately rest on the legal question of whether the elephant should be listed on Appendix I of CITES, labeling it as an endangered species. Ironically, the attempt to ensure the African ele- phant's survival may have permanently damaged CITES' ability to protect the earth's most endangered species. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ELEPHANT There are two types of elephant, the African (Loxodonta africana) and the Indian (Elephas maximus). The Indian elephant bears only a small amount of ivory and is well protected. In certain parts of Africa, however, the elephant population has fallen at a very high rate. This paper, therefore, focuses exclusively on the problems of the African elephant. Originally elephants roamed the entire African continent, from the Cape of Good Hope to the shores of the Mediterranean. About 5,000 years ago those in the north became separated from those in the south by the expansion of the Sahara desert.4 During the period of separation the groups appear to have diverged somewhat, with the northern group becoming at least partially domesticated. Roman historians of the Punic Wars record that the armies of Carthage rode war-elephants into battle. During the Second Punic War Han- David Harland is a candidate for the M.A.L.D. at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Recently he served as editorial assistant to the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. 1. The author wishes to thank George Furness, Senior Advisor to CITES, for his generous assistance in preparing materials for this article. 2. Rudyard Kipling, Just So Stories (Garden City, N.Y.: The Country Life Press, 1912), 65. 3. Richard Garstang, The Ivory Ban Issue, Report for the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, September 1989, 7. 4. Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES), Amendments to Appendices I and II of the Convention, Seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties, Lausanne, October 1989, Proposal of the Government of Kenya (Hereinafter Kenya Proposal), 25a.

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