Out of RP: The Ivory Trade makes around 23 billion in 2024.
Genetic engineering can be a powerful tool in the right hands. Consider this: there are roughly 550 elephants in Greater Anglia and Prydanland, all of which are protected as endangered species under Gwynnish law. They are regal and powerful creatures limited only by their slow birth rate; elephants reach maturity at 9-15 years and breed once every five years - for their gestation period is 22 months, or just short of two years. This alongside the fact that more than one offspring at a time are incredibly rare and result in one of the newborn's death not long afterwards, the population of elephants cannot significantly combat the massive amounts of hunting across the continent. So this begs the question: what if said birth rate could be increased?
Within Caernarvon, the nations leading scientists have all been working diligently under the governments orders to genetically manufacture an elephant breed which is smaller, breeds faster, and is more docile; in short a domesticated elephant. As the wild hogs, cattle, and chicken were tamed by mankind, so too lies the possibility for the taming of the elephant. And it shall be we the Britons, conquerors of the world, that lead the way into the elephants domestication. Plans have been laid out for several-decades worth of funding into the elephant domestication project. The desired output would be a smaller less intelligent animal that breeds faster than its larger counterpart at a sustained rate, so that meat, hide, and above all ivory production can be streamlined and controlled by Gwynedd rather than the whims of hunters and poachers. All the while, the normal elephants shall be kept under closer supervision and continue breeding until the desired number of 2,000 in Gwynnish territory is achieved. Until that number is reached, the smaller Gwynnish Dwarves (unofficial name) will hopefully spread across the country and provide another source of revenue for all of Gwynedd's subjects.
By doing so, this allows Gwynedd to preserve the natural elephants and allow them to grow, while managing to gain a large amount of influence on the ivory trade and restore it to a legal precedent, rather than criminal rule. On that note, a similar project has undergone quicker results using wild boars (H. meinertzhageni) and warthogs and specifically breeding them to gestate faster and more often for similar results in expanding Gwynedd's ivory trade capabilities. Currently, any of the new ivory that will be produced in the future shall be within local markets and possibly to allies. Likely, ivory prices will go down should the project be succesful, yet still profitable enough to be worth the effort.
