Causecast

by PHILIP ROSS, Causecast Editor

Following the ban on elephant ivory sales 20 years ago, many Sub-Saharan African nations – Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, for example – found themselves sitting on massive billion-dollar stockpiles of the pearly treasures. On a country’s material inventory, that’s going to draw some serious attention. Having made it harder to sell elephant ivory, the market for such an exotic commodity fizzled out, and poaching became a thing of the past. This was good news for the elephant populations, which had plummeted over the years from over one million in 1980 to about 600,000 ten years later.

Then in 1996, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) started approving one-off sales of the stock-piled ivory. One recent auction in 2008 to China and Japan included 119 tons of elephant ivory – the equivalent of about 10,000 male elephants. Ivory has become somewhat of a status symbol, especially among the Chinese. Opening up the market to ivory, even if just for a handful of one-off sales, has increased the incidence of elephant killings in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although an unintended consequence, this resurgence of poaching is beginning to devastate elephant populations, with more than 100 elephants dying everyday from illegal poaching.

It was originally thought that the billions of dollars in revenue generated by ivory sales could help boost the economies of these developing nations in Africa, and even be used to fund conservation efforts for wildlife in the areas. With that much money easily in reach, it’s understandable why the sales, under CITES supervision, were permitted. Yet many voiced their concerns that opening up the market – even a legal one – would ignite the illegal trade as well, along with the violence, conflict, and animal suffering associated with the black market. And, as we now know, this is exactly what happened. Hindsight is almost always 20/20.

Illegal poaching negatively impacts not only elephant populations, but human lives as well. Eleven park rangers were killed in Chad’s Zakouma National Park between 2005 and 2009. Ivory sales also help fund wars in conflict zones, much like blood diamonds of the 1990 civil wars.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is imploring CITES to discontinue the sale of ivory in order to squash the market, both illegal and legal. This, they claim, is the only solution, and any further experimentation with one-off sales is simply irresponsible.

You can join IFAW’s cause by signing this petition to stop ivory sales. Also, don’t buy ivory! It’s that easy. Without demand for elephant ivory, the elephant populations in Africa will be safer once again. If you feel so inclined, you can also make a donation to Save the Elephants to help fund their ongoing elephant protection programs in South Africa, Kenya, Mali and Congo.

Photo by Philip Ross