According to the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, in June of last year ivory poaching
was at its highest level since 1989. That was when international trade in ivory was
prohibited under CITES. Levels of this illegal activity have steadily
increased since 2005 according to the CITES MIKE programme. Central African
Countries have seen the highest slaughter of these noble animals for financial
gain through the sale of elephant tusks.
Enormous quantities of ivory have been seized, for example,
in China last year 1,366 kilos were confiscated, but the damage had been done
with no possibility of remedial action being taken. Effective preventative
measures for eliminating the slaughter of African elephants are seemingly
impossible to achieve.
Stopping these sickening and senseless killings of elephants
is essential if the species is to survive, and to that end, eliminating the
demand for ivory from ignorant and misguided people who live in China and
Thailand is essential. Transit countries such as the Philippines and Viet Nam
would no longer thrive on profiteering by middlemen.
Unless widespread education programmes can be brought about
in China and Thailand, the demand for ivory will not cease.
In view of the history of ivory poaching, I have little hope
that things will improve. Ignorance, greed and the pursuit of personal or collective
gain will prevail. Humans are the dumbest and most senseless of all creatures.
Links
Ivory Trade
Ivory Trade.com
CITES.org
ETIS – Elephant Trade Information System
Links between Elephant poaching and the Lord’s Resistance
Army (LRA)
Fighting the Underground Trade in Ivory
Experts Report Highest Elephant Poaching and Ivory Smuggling
Rates in a Decade
‘Rhino? What Rhino?’
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