By Lance Reynolds

Since I will be studying wildlife conservation and political ecology this spring semester in northern Tanzania, I was sad to hear that President Donald Trump decided to allow imports of elephant trophy carcasses. Yes, I know that elephants really do not live around us, but why would the president encourage elephant hunting?

Chris Pearson, a Vermont state senator who represents Chittenden county, shared the same feelings when I talked with him over the phone on Nov. 27. “I recoiled in horror as did a huge amount of Americans,” Pearson said.

Fortunately, there was enough public outroar around the country that Trump reversed his decision only a few days later. I was filled with joy when I heard the news. I cannot be more thrilled to see the beauty of the wildlife that lives in Tanzanian national parks, including the Serengeti. But there is a larger moral debate at work here too.

In a Youtube video initiated by then 12-year-old Vermont native Taegan Yardley on why Vermont should be ivory-free, it’s stated that between three to five million elephants lived in Africa in the 1940s, but now there are only 350,000 remaining in the wild. A more devastating stat shows that more than 35,000 elephants are killed every year which means an elephant dies every 15 minutes.

As residents of Vermont, we tend to forget about the wildlife that can be found in other parts of the world.
Although we get so wrapped up in our own bubbles of everyday life, elephants and other wildlife hold important roles in our world, and that’s why Pearson has been working on a bill in the senate that would stop the selling of ivory in the state of Vermont.

“[The bill] would [make it] illegal to sell [ivory]. It’s not about possession, it’s about selling.,” Pearson said. “It would also prevent an antique dealer from buying it. The primary tool here is that it’s not legal for you to sell to someone in Vermont.”

“Vermonters should have a broad appreciation for wildlife, for animal rights, and the fact is that we don’t have an abundance of elephants, so we should protect the ones that are left in the wild,” Pearson said. “Nobody needs a product or art piece made of ivory, it’s purely a luxury and it comes at a real cost.”

Elephants ARE important and we need to do all we can to save and protect them. The creatures play an important role in maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystems they live in. According to savetheelephants.org, elephant tusks not only help them dig for water, but they provide water for other animals that share harsh habitats.

And making a difference on this international topic here in our own state of Vermont, sends a lesson to Washington.