This means that along with transportation, consumers also have the greatest desire to continue buying elephant ivory. And their trip gives them access to ivory, as some of the most popular destinations among Chinese travelers — Thailand, Laos, Hong Kong, Japan, and Vietnam — still have elephant ivory on their shelves. Despite the fact that it is illegal to move ivory from one country to another without special permission, travellers still risk it. On 6 October 2017, the UK government announced its intention to ban the sale and export of ivory in certain parts of the UK. [88] Despite commitments made by the Conservative Party in 2010 and 2015 to ban the sale of ivory in the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom has not followed suit to date. Changing people`s beliefs on any issue is neither quick nor easy, but it will be essential if the international community hopes to end the ivory trade. “To stop the poacher, the trader must also be arrested,” Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi said in 1989. Kathleen Garrigan is a former Media Relations Officer at the African Wildlife Foundation. Many moons ago, she worked in a nature reserve near South Africa`s Kruger National Park, where she slept with monkeys, fought bushfires, led trap patrols, and led camping trips. She traveled. Although the ban gave a respite to many elephant populations in Africa, it was short-lived. Countries including the United States, China and Japan continued to allow the legal ivory trade within their own borders, keeping the culture of ivory worship alive.
At the same time, CITES allowed Japan, followed by China and Japan, to purchase large caches of ivory accumulated in some African countries with well-managed elephant populations in 1999 and 2009. A 2019 peer-reviewed study found that the poaching rate of African elephants was declining, with the annual poaching mortality rate peaking at over 10% in 2011 and falling below 4% in 2017. [54] The study found that “annual poaching rates at 53 sites are strongly correlated with proxy indicators of ivory demand in key Chinese markets, while differences between countries and sites are strongly associated with indicators of corruption and poverty.” [54] Based on these findings, the study recommended measures to both reduce demand for ivory in China and other major markets and reduce corruption and poverty in Africa. [54] However, this tragedy cannot compete with the fascination with “white gold” – especially among young fashionistas from low- and middle-income groups who see ivory as a way to project an image of wealth and social status, according to the survey. The decision to ban trade in Asian elephant ivory has not been the subject of much controversy. However, the species is still threatened by the ivory trade, and many conservationists have supported banning ivory trade in Africa because evidence shows that ivory traders don`t care whether their raw material comes from Africa or Asia. CITES decisions on ivory trade affect Asian elephants. For intricate carvings, Asian ivory is often preferred. [84] [85] NOTE: This page refers specifically to elephant ivory. While many people outside the Arctic often associate ivory with elephants, the term is also used for objects from other species and with different purposes. The seizure of more than 6 tons of ivory in Singapore in 2002 was a stark warning that poaching in Africa was not only serving local markets, but that some of the ivory syndicates of the 1980s were operating again. 532 elephant tusks and more than 40,000 empty ivory hankos were seized, and the EIA conducted investigations that revealed that this case was preceded by another 19 alleged ivory shipments, four for China and the rest for Singapore, although they are often en route to Japan.
The ivory originated in Zambia and was collected in Malawi before being containerized and shipped from South Africa. Between March 1994 and May 1998, nine alleged shipments from the same company Sheng Luck were shipped from Malawi to Singapore. After that, they were sent to China. Analysis and cross-referencing revealed company names and CEOs already known to the EIA through investigations conducted in the 1980s – Hong Kong`s ivory criminal syndicates were active again. [38] However, there are specific drivers of demand that are more popular in some countries than in others. A significant proportion of the Chinese (44%) and Filipino (39%) population consider ivory a sign of good luck, compared to a smaller number in Thailand (25%) and the United States (17%). However, many countries – including the UK, US, Thailand and Japan – have domestic markets where it is legal to buy and sell ivory certified as antique or from legal stockpiles. The study represents an attempt to better understand what motivates people in the United States and Asian countries to continue to buy ivory, despite years of efforts to raise awareness about how the illegal trade fuels the mass killing of elephants.
One. The U.S. ivory ban does not restrict the right to possess or give ivory to family members. There is no current government ban on ivory that restricts the possession or inheritance of ivory, rhino horn, or any other wildlife product regulated by law. Therefore, residents are free to keep their ivory items or give them to their family members. One. The U.S. ivory ban includes an exemption for small (de minimis) amounts of legally imported ivory, which could allow the sale of certain musical instruments. New York, California, Washington, and Hawaii grant exemptions for musical instruments containing less than 20% ivory by volume, provided they have historical records showing that the item was manufactured no later than 1975.
Smugglers use the legal trade to launder their illegal goods, which are then presented to buyers as legitimate products. And most African countries lack the resources to fight poachers. Many countries, including China and the United States, have already taken steps to close domestic ivory markets. In July 2016, the U.S. government passed a law that severely restricts imports, exports, and sales of African elephant ivory and provides exemptions for certain antiques and musical instruments. The France has also pledged to issue a “near-total ban,” while Hong Kong has announced a five-year plan to end its domestic ivory trade. The stakes are high. If we succeed in changing the public perception of ivory, we will help save the African elephant and take a big step towards ending the wider illegal wildlife trade, worth $19 billion a year. Make no mistake, China`s ivory ban is a victory for elephants. If we succeed in changing hearts and minds, we will win the war.
One. Since only 10% of illegal ivory is seized at our borders, a significant proportion of illegal ivory enters the market, where it becomes almost indistinguishable from older, legal ivory. While the U.S. ban will increase restrictions on imports, exports, and interstate ivory trade, illegal ivory will continue to enter the market until ivory markets within states are closed. This makes it all the more important that law enforcement agencies be involved at both the state and federal levels. States can take legislative or regulatory measures to prohibit all domestic sales of ivory in order to address this enforcement challenge and stop illicit trade. IUCN estimates that around 111,000 African elephants – a fifth of the total population – were lost between 2006 and 2015, with the majority illegally killed for ivory. Finally, at this CITES meeting in October, after heated debate, the African elephant was listed in Appendix I of CITES, and three months later, in January 1990, when the decision was made, international trade in ivory was banned. [4] [7] [12] [13] International deliberations on measures needed to prevent the severe decline in elephant numbers have almost always ignored the loss of life in Africa, the fomenting of corruption, the “currency” of ivory when buying weapons, and the breakdown of law and order in areas where the illegal ivory trade has flourished. The debate was generally based on elephant numbers, estimates of poached elephants and official ivory statistics.
[7] Activists such as Jim Nyamu have described the current prices of poached ivory and the dangers these activists face from organized poaching. The international community banned the ivory trade in 1989 and, for a time, worked to halt the drastic decline in the elephant population from 1.3 million to about 600,000 in the previous decade.
