Elephant Protection for Sale

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-03-09 09:00:00 UTC
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Tanzania and Zambia are petitioning for a one-off sale of their stockpile of confiscated ivory. The supply is worth an estimated $12 million, which they say will be used for conservation efforts. Kenya, one of the main opponents to the proposal, says that these sales only serve to stimulate the black market trade. The Kenyans may be right.

The last legal sale, in 2008, supposedly raised $20 million for conservation, but elephant poaching has been on the rise. Recently, the largest bust in Thailand's history took place, when official seized two tons of ivory labeled as mobile phone parts. In the Philippines, a wildlife officer is suspected of stealing $65,000 worth of ivory from a stash that had been seized at the Manila airport last summer.

Flooding the market with a legal supply of ivory seems to only whet the appetite of the black market. The increased poaching after the last sale isn't under control, so allowing another influx of ivory into the market would be digging a big grave for the elephants.

In a few days, the CITES conference (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) will decide the fate of elephants, along with about 40 other proposals affecting wildlife around the world. Countries are taking sides on each issue and the political wrangling began weeks, if not months, ago.

Kenya Wildlife Service director Julius Kipng’etich says that if the ivory sale is allowed to go ahead, the entire West African elephant population will be wiped out within a decade. The African Elephant Coalition, comprised of the majority of African states with elephant populations, had originally agreed to compromise for a 9 year moratorium on the ivory trade, but will go back to their original 20 year proposal if the petition for the ivory sale isn't withdrawn.

Tanzania says they spend $75,000 annually to secure their stockpile. President Jakaya Kikwete's government fears it will not only have to continue paying for this protection, but the country may have to spend an addition $2 million to build two strong rooms to store it.

While it doesn't make sense for storage to drain a country's budget, it's more likely that Tanzania is interested in the money to be gained from the sale rather than the money being lost. There are other alternatives. In 1989, when the original ivory trade ban was enacted, 12 tonnes of ivory were torched in Kenya. It was a bold commitment to conservation and it kept the ivory from feeding the black market. Maybe it's time for another bonfire.

Photo credit: doug88888

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
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