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No. People weren't "farming" them before laws cracked down on it. Laws cracked down on it precisely because of how people were going about getting ivory. Besid
by mfoy_ 9y ago
No. People weren't "farming" them before laws cracked down on it. Laws cracked down on it precisely because of how people were going about getting ivory.
Besides, we're not aiming for pure population count... imagine the shitty quality of life an "ivory farm elephant" would have? And after they take the horn or tusk, what then? Meat?
- centimeter 9y agoPeople weren’t farming because there was a plentiful natural supply that was easy to get at. The costs of acquiring “free range” elephant is already so high that if you allowed people the cheaper option of farming elephants, it would probably be viable. You don’t have to kill an elephant (or rhino) to take their tusks. Presumably their quality of life would be no worse than that of e.g. cows.
- animal531 9y agoRhino horn for example regrows at about 9cm per year, which is worth very roughly $2000-$15000 (I'm unsure about recent prices). So they can be farmed and have decent lives. The trick is that if the price is high they're still going to get poached. If the price is low then it'll be too costly to feed them and it won't be worth it in the first place.