Africa and Asia = ivory supply and demand
photo by Stig Nygaard (source: Flickr Creative Commons)
2009 was a banner year for the confiscation of illegal ivory, with 14,000 articles made from the body parts of elephants seized – a rise of more than 2,000 pieces compared with 2007, according to an article in Sunday’s Observer. But this increase is not down to better law enforcement, but rather a growth in the grizzly trade spurned on by soaring ivory prices in East Asia, which have risen from ₤150 ($245/ €170) per kg in 2004 to a whopping ₤4,000 ($6,500/4,500€).
‘At the same time, scientists estimate that between 8% and 10% of Africa’s elephants are now being killed each year to meet the demand. The world’s largest land animal is again threatened with widespread slaughter.’
–The Observer
The issue is complicated: countries such as Tanzania have seen their elephant population almost triple in the past 20 years. Many poor farmers now consider elephants a nuisance and the Tanzanian government would like to see the sale of seized ivory legalized. Yet Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo have experienced more poaching in recent years and are for an extension of the ban on ivory.
According to wildlife trade monitoring network, Traffic:
‘The remarkable surge in 2009 reflects a series of large-scale ivory seizure events that suggest an increased involvement of organized crime syndicates in the trade, connecting African source countries with Asian end-use markets’
–The Independent
Exceptions on the ivory ban have sometimes been allowed. In 2008 a cache of 105,000 tons of ivory from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe was sold to Chinese and Japanese dealers over £15 million ($24.5m/ €17m). It is just this sort of activity which Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo believe increases the demand for ivory, thereby encouraging poaching.
by Graham Land
Additional resources:
The Independent – African countries set for new fight over ivory sales
Chinese medicine, ecology and endangered species
Graham Land grew up in Washington, D.C., where he was part of the local hardcore punk scene. Through this unique musical movement he became involved in grass roots anti-racist activism, animal rights and Ecology. Since 2000 Graham has lived in Europe, earning an MA in history from Malmö University in Sweden and working as a musician, English teacher, sports therapist, customer service agent and writer. Graham has a podcast with author Saci Lloyd and is currently pretending to work on his first novel.
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Tags: Africa, Asia, ban, Congo, elephants, ivory, Kenya, Observer, Tanzania
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