Posted today on Kenya Wildlife Service website is:
"Kenya's campaign to uphold the ivory trade ban received a major boost when Parties at the just concluded 50th Meeting of the Standing Committee of CITES declared that there be no sale of ivory until further notice. The declaration, at a March 15 - 19 meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, was based on the premise that "Conditions of the one-off sale of ivory from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, approved in Santiago, Chile 2002, have not yet been met".
Hopefully now the cost of ivory will plummet and all poaching will cease
Jan
"Kenya's campaign to uphold the ivory trade ban received a major boost when Parties at the just concluded 50th Meeting of the Standing Committee of CITES declared that there be no sale of ivory until further notice. The declaration, at a March 15 - 19 meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, was based on the premise that "Conditions of the one-off sale of ivory from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, approved in Santiago, Chile 2002, have not yet been met".
Hopefully now the cost of ivory will plummet and all poaching will cease
Jan
Thanks for posting this Jan...i missed this in the news. This is indeed good news for elephants. When I was in Zambia last year, there was a "sighting" book that guides and tourists at Mfuwe Lodge used to record their adventures...it was kept at the bar for others to read. There was a long entry from June 2003 about a guide (with tourists) discovering a large cache of ivory tusks while on a walk near the lodge! Horrifying-- I think there were at least half a dozen elephants killed in that cache alone. I believe that this was part of poachers becoming more active again...perhaps in hopes of doing "ivory laundering" through these special sales...or perhaps just a continuation of illegal "business as usual".
So this threat is a continuing one...for more info, I hope people will support Save the Elephants and other protection organizations!! (www.savetheelephants.com for more info)
So this threat is a continuing one...for more info, I hope people will support Save the Elephants and other protection organizations!! (www.savetheelephants.com for more info)
Tashak:
Thanks for your reply. I think you are 100% correct in some "ivory laundering" was going on. It is so disheartening when one hears about this. Most people don't understand that currently there is no way to determine which ivory might legitimately come from an old elephant who has died a natural death and one who has been poached. Until the time comes when a monitoring system can be developed to tell the difference, then all ivory sales/trade must be stopped. A female can only have one calf every 5 - 6 years and the species will be unable to replace itself if the trade continues. The poachers are now killing younger and younger elephants and getting very small tusks.
If any trade/sales is allowed elephants will be gone very shortly. What a sad world that would be.
Jan
Thanks for your reply. I think you are 100% correct in some "ivory laundering" was going on. It is so disheartening when one hears about this. Most people don't understand that currently there is no way to determine which ivory might legitimately come from an old elephant who has died a natural death and one who has been poached. Until the time comes when a monitoring system can be developed to tell the difference, then all ivory sales/trade must be stopped. A female can only have one calf every 5 - 6 years and the species will be unable to replace itself if the trade continues. The poachers are now killing younger and younger elephants and getting very small tusks.
If any trade/sales is allowed elephants will be gone very shortly. What a sad world that would be.
Jan
