; Whereas wildlife poaching presents significant security and stability challenges for military and police forces in African nations that are often threatened by heavily armed poachers and the criminal, extremist allies of those poachers; Whereas wildlife poaching negatively impacts local communities that rely on natural resources for economic development, including through tourism; Whereas penal and financial deterrents can improve the ability of governments to reduce poaching and trafficking and enhance the capabilities of those governments in managing resources; Whereas assisting institutions in developing nations, including by providing material, training, legal, and diplomatic support, can reduce illegal wildlife trade; Whereas wildlife provides a multitude of benefits to all nations and wildlife crime has wide-ranging economic, environmental, and social impacts; Whereas the African Elephant Status Report 2016 issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature revealed that the elephant population of Africa has recently seen a dramatic decline, mainly due to poaching during the 10 years preceding the issuance of the report, and the continental population is now thought to be 415,428; Whereas the estimated African elephant population decreased by approximately 93,000 between 2006 and 2015, despite the inclusion of approximately 18,000 elephants that were previously uncounted, making the actual decline closer to 111,000; Whereas, from 2007 to 2012, the number of elephants killed in Kenya increased by more than 800 percent, from 47 to 387 elephants killed; Whereas, between 2002 and 2013, as a result of poaching, about 65 percent of the forest elephant population was killed and that species lost 30 percent of its geographical range