Issue and Behaviour to Change

Question: Discuss about the Issue and Behaviour to Change. Answer: Introduction Poaching is a behaviour in humans which is characterized by illegal hunting of certain animal species for either food or monetary benefits. In other cases, poaching can be done as a participation in sports through a competition process (Hsiang Sekar, 2016). For instance, some people may decide to engage in the poaching of endangered animal species sp as to boast around for killing a rare animal. In the case of elephants, poaching has threatened their numbers to a large extent. The ivory has been used for trading even at international levels, a trading which is done in black markets for high prices. Therefore poaching of elephants has been termed as an illegal business since their population is always low. The increased poaching of elephants for ivory tusks and in few cases for meat has seen the number of elephants in forests goes down day by day. It is important to note that the elephants are tourist attraction and this earns revenue for the countries (Gobush et al., 2008). Apart fr om this role, elephant trails act as firebreaks; they produce nutrient rich manure which makes soils fertile, break trees and thorns to form grassland for other animals and create salt licks which is important for other animals among other functions. Target audience The poachers should understand the need to change their behaviour because apart from lowering the elephant population, poaching endangers the lives of other wild animals. Instead, poachers can engage in other economic activities which can earn them income. Consequently, the poachers stand a risk of being charged with this criminal offence or being shot by the game rangers. The poachers should also understand the reproduction rate of elephants is very low and hence the more they are poached, the less their numbers become and in the end, they might become extinct (Becker et al., 2013). Instead, the poachers should convert and be on the forefront in hunting down the poachers and report them to the police. Target behaviour The poachers should join the wildlife movements in the communities so that they can learn more about the conservation of elephants. These lessons will enable the poacher to understand that the elephants are very important animals. As a result of this, the poachers also have a duty to take care of the elephants and still meet the needs of the country through tourism. The poachers also need to o alternative tourist methods that can earn them income for instance they can be tour guides (Booth Dunham, 2016). The poachers should join the community based organization that aim at reducing the poaching activities. Finally poachers should report the traffickers and brokers of elephant tusks to the police for action to be taken. Behaviour strategy behaviour-change tools The businesses need form partnerships with the nongovernmental organizations which support conservation of elephants so that they can ensure that no materials from elephant parts are displayed for business purposes. For instance, businesses can support the move to destroy ornaments which have been made from elephant tusks. Social diffusion is another tool which can be used to reduce poaching activities. This method involves a situation where a person makes an initiative and informs colleagues about it. In this case, a few friends can meet and develop a foundation or a community based strategy for protecting elephants and then communicate to other friends over social media to lobby for support. Organizations for wildlife protection can prepare guides and develop mobile phone applications, websites, face book page and twitter accounts to inform people about the need for elephant protection. Offering of incentives to individuals can help in the spread of behaviour against elephant poaching. For instance, if poachers are offered for having reported their group poaching members, they can stop such behaviour (McKenzie Schultz, 2012). The suppliers need to partner with national parks and make a commit that they will never accept to do business with products made from elephant parts. Potential partners, stakeholders, spokesperson In this case, the government agency to be consulted is the Kenya Wildlife service. This agency has all the statistics and other relevant information concerning the population and species of elephants in Kenya and the rates of poaching activities. https://www.kws.go.ke/ The nongovernmental organization which would be used in this project is the Mara elephant project which deals with the protection of elephants in Kenya. The celebrity for use in this project is Lupita Nyongo, having previously won the Oscar awards, indicating that she is globally popular. As a result, any programs and initiatives would be of interest to many people as a result of this celebrity. The scientific expert on the issue of elephant for protection of elephants in this project is Gerald Bigurube who is a regional cordinator in the zoological society. Similar projects or campaigns Examples of project similar to this one are: save the elephants campaign is involved in tracking of the elephants through remote GPS racking so as to monitor their activities. This project also implements the objectives of the United Nations through the reduction in the poaching activities. The 96 elephants campaign is involved in the provision of a bright future for the elephants. This is through the provision of safe environment and prevention of the poaching activities. The save the elephants campaign is similar to my project because it aims at determining the number of elephants which are available in the game reserves from time to time, indicating that it can determine the number of elephants lost through poaching. The 96 elephants campaign is similar to our project because it offers protection to the elephants and offers education to the people on the need for protecting elephants through discouraging of illegal activities like poaching (Ezeonu, 2004). Possible barriers and benefits The barriers to this project can be grouped into psychological, physical, socio-cultural, economic or individual differences. For instance, one of the economic barriers would be the lack of funds which would in turn hamper the strategies for propelling the campaigns to a success (Lombard et al., 2001). In some instances, there is a need to go to the forest or game parks to assess the situation as it is on the ground. The travelling and other logistics would require funds for them to be accomplished. Another barrier is lack of cooperation among the team members due to personal differences. In this case, it would be difficult to make any efforts concerning this project because people need to come together and consolidate their ideas. The benefits associated with the target audience in this project are the psychological and economic benefits. In the psychological benefits, a poacher would change the minds of poaching elephants and instead become an advocate who lobby for elephant protection. The second is the economic benefits which would come along following increased reduction in poaching activities (Harris, 2014). More elephants would be saved and the government would earn revenue from tourism. Simple message References Becker, M., McRobb, R., Watson, F., Droge, E., Kanyembo, B., Murdoch, J., Kakumbi, C. (2013). 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