The ivory trade threatens our future too

Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate

1 Warmer
What do you know about elephants?

1. Which is larger? The African elephant or the Indian elephant?

2. Which eats mainly grass and which eats mainly leaves?
3. In which type of elephant do the females rarely have tusks?

2 Key words
Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text. The paragraph numbers will help you.

timber broccoli droppings savannah gigatonne

1. ___________________ is a large, flat area of land covered with grass in a warm part of the world. (para 4)
2. ___________________ is a vegetable with green stems and many small dark green or purple buds on the
ends. (para 4)

3. ___________________ are the solid waste produced by animals or birds. (para 5)

4. ___________________ is wood used for building houses or making furniture. (para 6)

5. A ___________________ is one billion tonnes. (para 6)

fertilizer poaching botanist ivory manure

6. ___________________ is a natural or chemical substance that helps plants to grow. (para 7)

7. ___________________ is solid waste from animals, used on crops to help them to grow. (para 7)

8. ___________________ is the yellowish-white bone that an elephant’s tusks are made of. (para 8)

9. ___________________ is the crime of illegally catching or killing animals. (para 8)

10. A ___________________ is someone who studies plants, especially as their job. (para 9)

3 Find the information

Find the following information in the text as quickly as possible.

1. What do people do on World Elephant Day?

2. What percentage of tree species in tropical forests have seeds dispersed by animals?
3. How much manure does an adult elephant produce each week?
4. How many African elephants are killed by ivory poachers each year?
5. How many elephants were there in Africa before modern guns were introduced?
6. How many elephants are there in Africa today?
D •
TE DE E
SI A L
EB LO B
W N IA

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2016

M W P
O DO O
FR BE C
N T
O

NEWS LESSONS / The ivory trade threatens our future too / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
CA O
H
•P
The ivory trade threatens our future too
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
The ivory trade isn’t just a disaster for
elephants. It threatens our future too
Ian Redmond
12 August, 2016
1 World Elephant Day is a day when people
celebrate elephants and raise money to protect
them. It is strange that the world’s largest land
animal, a symbol of strength and intelligence,
needs protection. But numbers across Africa and
Asia are falling because human activities and
expanding agriculture are pushing elephants into
smaller and smaller areas.
2 Even in those areas, the elephants themselves –
despite legal protection – are hunted by criminal
gangs for their tusks, for their meat and for their
babies. And on top of all this, elephants – like
every other species – are suffering as climate
change raises average temperatures and brings
more drought and extreme weather.
3 Why should we care about elephants? We find
their size impressive; their strange shape makes
them popular with children; their intelligence
fascinates us; their ability to suffer and show
compassion is similar to ours; and they are very
popular animals on wildlife-watching holidays in
Africa and Asia so they bring in money
from tourism.
4 This is all true but it is not what elephants are on
Earth for. The role they have played in the forest
and savannah that covered Africa and Asia is
extremely important. If you fly across parts of
Africa and Asia, you will see rainforests stretching
to the horizon like a carpet of broccoli, with huge
trees like lumps on its surface.
5 How did these old giant trees get there? Five
or six hundred years ago, maybe a thousand in
some cases, a monkey, bird or elephant ate some
fruit, chewed and swallowed the seeds, then left
them far from the parent plant in their droppings.
In tropical forests, between 75% and 95% of tree
species have seeds spread by animals, not by
wind or water.
6 Until recently, tropical forest trees were valued
only for their beautiful hardwood timber. But the
Paris climate agreement emphasizes a new
economic value – the capture and storage of
gigatonnes of carbon. Forest are ecosystems,
with thousands of interdependent species of
plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms. And
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2016
NEWS LESSONS / The ivory trade threatens our future too / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
carbon capture and storage is only one of
several ecosystem services these forests and
woodlands provide.
7 Because of their size, appetite and habits,
elephants spread more seeds of more species
further than any other animal. Tree species with
small seeds such as figs can be spread by birds,
bats and so on. Species with large seeds, such
as mangoes, need big animals such as apes and
elephants to spread them. And this creates the
trees of tomorrow. Their droppings are important,
too, as fertilizer. An adult elephant produces
about one tonne of first-class organic manure
every week, helping young plants and trees to
grow. This is why ecologists refer to elephants as
mega-gardeners of the forest.
8 Ivory poaching is killing around 30,000 African
elephants a year. Think of the ecological effects.
Think of the loss of soil fertility of 30,000 fewer
tonnes of manure a week and millions of seeds
not spread. Before the invention of modern guns,
it is thought there were some 10 million elephants
in Africa. Now, there are under half a million. We
have already lost 95% of the workforce of the
forest and savannah. This is why most of the
countries with natural elephant populations want
an end to the ivory trade everywhere.
9 There is one more element of the carbon story
relevant to elephants. Botanists have reported a
relationship between seed size and wood density.
Tree species with big seeds store more carbon
than tree species with small seeds. So, to keep
the high rates of carbon storage in Africa’s and
Asia’s tropical forests, elephants are essential.
To stabilize the climate, we need elephants (and
other “gardeners of the forest”) to keep doing
what they do as much as they need us to leave
them alone.
© Guardian News and Media 2016
First published in The Guardian, 12/08/16
D •
TE DE E
SI A L
EB LO B
W N IA
M W P
O DO O
FR BE C
N T
O
CA O
H
•P
The ivory trade threatens our future too
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
4 Comprehension check
Match the beginnings and endings to make statements about the text.

1. Criminal gangs hunting elephants for their tusks … a. … they capture and store gigatonnes of carbon.
2. Elephant manure … b. … we need elephants to continue to do what they
do now.
3. Most countries with natural elephant populations … c. … kill around 30,000 African elephants a year.
4. Rainforests are extremely valuable because … d. … more seeds of more species than any
other animal.
5. Elephants can spread … e. … helps young plants and trees to grow.
6. To stabilize the climate, … f. … want an end to the ivory trade everywhere.

5 Chunks
Rearrange the words to make phrases from the text.

1. this top on of all

2. hundred ago six or five years
3. half million a under
4. storage and capture carbon
5. invention modern before the guns of
6. other every species like

6 Two-word phrases
Match the words in the left-hand column with those in the right-hand column to make phrases from
the text.

1. legal a. populations

2. criminal b. change

3. climate c. value

4. elephant d. protection

5. economic e. effects

6. ecological f. gangs
D •
TE DE E
SI A L
EB LO B
W N IA

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2016

M W P
O DO O
FR BE C
N T
O

NEWS LESSONS / The ivory trade threatens our future too / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
CA O
H
•P
The ivory trade threatens our future too
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
7 Word-building
Complete the table using words from the text.

adjective noun
1. strong
2. intelligent
3. fertile
4. law
5. ecology
6. tropics

8 Discussion
Should rich western countries help African countries to protect elephants? Why? Why not?

D •
TE DE E
SI A L
EB LO B
W N IA

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2016

M W P
O DO O
FR BE C
N T
O

NEWS LESSONS / The ivory trade threatens our future too / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
CA O
H
•P
The ivory trade threatens our future too
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
KEY
1 Warmer 5 Chunks

1. the African elephant 1. on top of all this

2. The Indian elephant eats mainly grass and the 2. five or six hundred years ago
African elephant mainly leaves. 3. under half a million
3. the Indian elephant 4. carbon capture and storage
5. before the invention of modern guns
6. like every other species
2 Key words

1. savannah 6 Two-word phrases

2. broccoli
3. droppings 1. d
4. timber 2. f
5. gigatonne 3. b
6. fertilizer 4. a
7. manure 5. c
8. ivory 6. e
9. poaching
10. botanist
7 Word-building

3 Find the information 1. strength

2. intelligence
1. celebrate elephants and raise money to 3. fertility / fertilizer
protect them 4. legal
2. between 75% and 95% 5. ecological
3. about one tonne 6. tropical
4. around 30,000
5. about ten million
6. under half a million

4 Comprehension check

1. c
2. e
3. f
4. a
5. d
6. b
D •
TE DE E
SI A L
EB LO B
W N IA

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2016

M W P
O DO O
FR BE C
N T
O

NEWS LESSONS / The ivory trade threatens our future too / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
CA O
H
•P