Right call: saving the rhino and elephant

One of the most illustrious daughters of the East African Community, the actress Lupita Nyong’o, has been in Uganda to star in a film called Queen of Katwe. The film tells the story of Phiona Mutesi, a 19-year-old chess prodigy from a poor neighborhood in Kampala. Lupita not only draws admiration, but is an inspiration to many a girl in the EAC. Looking like them, she’s the region’s own. She, however, has not been home in Kenya since winning the Academy Award for her role in the film 12 Years a Slave that made her a global icon. Hers has been a busy schedule. Since taking the prestigious US film award for best female actress in 2013, she has graced the covers of highbrow magazines such as People and Vogue, and has had numerous appearances in some of the world’s most glamorous magazines as a fashion idol. Lupita will shortly be visiting home, and will be lending her celebrity status as the chief guest at an exclusive dinner bringing together conservationists, artists and the general public in Nairobi to save the elephant and the rhino, two of some of the most endangered animals on Earth. To sit at the dinner with her it will cost KSh10, 000 (Rwf74,000) per person. It is just over One Hundred US Dollars per plate – not a quite figure, on the scale of things, to scoff at in our part of the world. But the battle to save the elephant and rhino is not cheap, either. Thus, along with Lupita, it has also drawn some of the major corporate organisations at the behest of WildAid, a San Francisco-based charity organization. WildAid seeks to utilise star power to reduce global consumption of wildlife products and protecting animals from poaching. Its motto is: When the buying stops, the killing can too. But, aside from the sound-bite, the fight to save the elephant and rhino is not quite as clear-cut, and is essentially between the pro-traders and anti-traders of the animal products. A bleakly descriptive title in a National Geographic article notes how “Infighting Over Whether to Trade in Elephant Ivory and Rhino Horn Jeopardizes Both Species.” Pro-traders, the article observes, want a legal, regulated trade to equipoise the rampancy of death by virtue of what they view as negligent, emotionally reinforced ban policies with no grounding in science or socioeconomics. Anti-traders see illegality as an immutable concept in support of the right for sentient beings to live, while showcasing their own scientific findings to counter pro-trade recommendations. Among the anti-traders are those who understand wildlife biology and are expert in their biomes and ecology, while others are at home in fields such as sociology, political science, and law. They dwell on the interlocking issues and intricate systems creating conditions currently imperiling the very existence of elephants, of rhinos. Some of the pro-traders base their arguments on cultural mores, such as the status-conscious Vietnamese businessmen who believe the rhino horn has magical healing and detoxification properties that allow massive indulgence in food and alcohol. Or, the ever-rising Chinese demand for ivory jewelry and trinkets to supply the growing and ever-richer middle-class. For this reason, WildAid has roped in other re-known celebrities such as Yao Ming – the towering 7-foot-6 Chinese former Houston Rockets basketball star – in the fight for the elephant and the rhino. The battle is singular, lobbying politicians, legislators, diplomats, wildlife regulatory agencies, and the governments of African and of Asian nations. But the National Geographic tellingly observes that “despite the vigour of anti-trade enthusiasts, there’s no denying that prohibitions on the trade in ivory and rhino horn will always be ignored by high-level criminal syndicates operating within the black market. The same can be said of impoverished Africans contracted to carry out the poaching.” So, what to do? There are those of us who have nothing other than a firm conviction to do the right thing to save the elephant and the rhino, to do all that we can to contribute in any way to prevent their extinction. And not just for tourism and our common ecological heritage as earthlings, but for their own sake.

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Right call: saving the rhino and elephant