Elephant poaching not only harms elephants, but decimates communities, destabilizes national economies, and ultimately poses a threat to global security. Born Free’s partner organization, The Thin Green Line Foundation, says that 1,000 park rangers have lost their lives in the line of duty over the past decade, with up to 80 percent reportedly killed by armed militias and commercial poaching groups. “Many are the sole breadwinners and when they’re killed their families are left destitute,” says Adam M. Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA and Born Free Foundation. Roberts continues, “The involvement of insurgent terrorist outfits and criminal syndicates in the ivory trade puts entire regions and communities at risk and creates a significant level of instability at a time when people are yearning for national security.”
Link: fairplanet