Let Elephants Keep Their Ivory -- a Video Message for the CITES Convention

The CITES convention is currently being held in The Hague, Netherlands. Under discussion are African Elephants and the trade of stockpiled ivory. As a result from a previous sale of stockpiled ivory, there's been an increase in poaching, despite elephants being on the endangered list.

Lelystad, Netherlands (PRWEB) June 8, 2007 -- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is currently convening in The Hague, the Netherlands. On the agenda, among other topics being discussed in the next two weeks, are African elephants -- again.

Trading in African ivory has been banned since 1989, but in the early part of this millennium, a once-off sale of stockpiled ivory was allowed between South Africa and Japan. In 2002, another once-off sale was agreed to, provided that certain requirements are met, such as the strict control of the distribution of legal ivory.

In the last 5 years, all the demands of the Standing Committee of the CITES convention have been met, so the second once-off trade was approved last Saturday, with CITES accepting Japan as a trading partner. So far, China has been rejected as a trading partner.

When the ivory ban took place in 1989, the price of ivory dropped as quickly as the demand did. But with legal ivory, the demand is almost insatiable, especially in Japan, China and the West. Since the first once-off sale, there has been an increase in poaching. Why? Because legal trade makes illicit trade much easier. This puts elephants throughout Africa in grave danger, especially in places like Angola where there are very few elephants left.

Quite simply … if there's no demand - there is no need for poaching.

Please watch the video, "Let Elephants Keep Their Ivory", on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIkv-qToWM4 featuring Daphne Sheldrick and the orphaned baby elephants that she and her team take care of.

Let elephant families grow up together. Let elephants keep their tusks. Let's drop the interest in ivory trinkets or other products made from wildlife. Please help by raising your voice to say, "Let Elephants Keep Their Ivory."

Feel free to read the informative article "The Elephant Debate" by Daphne Sheldrick to find out more about this topic on the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust website at http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/html/debate.html

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