At an elephant sanctuary on the banks of the River Kwai, a musician performed his piano and the elephants responded. One, he reported, stayed for Beethoven however left when the piece was by Schubert.
Whereas Thailand’s elephants had been within the information a number of years in the past, Semafor just lately alerted us to the plight of Nigeria’s. In each international locations, the elephant is an endangered species.
Nigeria’s Elephants
Seeing elephant numbers decline from 1200-1500 30 years in the past to 300-400 now, conservationists fear about extinction, particularly for the 100 savanna-dwelling elephants that stay. Responding, throughout August 2024, the nation launched a 10-year Elephant Motion strategic plan.
Their issues are the identical all over the place. They embody ivory commerce poaching, local weather change, and the event that devastates habitats. As well as, the human elephant battle that occurs when elephants ravage crops is a rising downside as is the forest loss brought on by urbanization and increasing a transportation infrastructure. Excessive at 3.5%, Nigeria’s fee of forest loss constrains migration, breeding, and discovering meals.
The Elephant Motion Plan summarized what must be achieved:
Our Backside Line: The Tragedy of the Commons
We’ve got a tragedy of the commons when a public useful resource is overused or abused. As a result of the land and water and animals haven’t any personal proprietor to supervise them and since the tradeoff will be expensive, we jeopardize the commons. The result’s polluted air, overfished oceans, and diminished wildlife populations.
Political scientist Elinor Ostrom (1933-2012) received the economics Nobel Prize for her method to the tragedy of the commons. Calling it the downside of the commons, she stated communities do voluntarily get collectively once they share the identical objectives. Her examples ranged from not overgrazing a pasture in Switzerland to sustaining a neat fridge at work.
Elinor Ostrom:
Dr. Ostrom was a sensible, “no-nonsense” scholar. Modifying the Nationwide Elephant Motion Plan, she would in all probability have defined the advantages of a “bottom-up” resolution that got here from the native villagers.
My sources and extra: For some info (not confirmed) on elephants and music, this text was my supply. Then, transferring on to Nigeria’s elephants, because of Semafor for alerting me and the Dialog for extra of the info. Nevertheless, if you would like all the info, do take a look at Nigeria’s “National Elephant Action Plan.”
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