From 1989 to 1997, all African elephant populations were listed on Appendix I; during this period-prior to the split-listing that occurred in 1997-elephants enjoyed a reprieve from intense poaching pressures and populations started to recover.
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As a reflection of how pressing the issue is, NY officials said on Thursday that the city had seized US$4.5 million worth of illegal elephant ivory items in what they described as the biggest bust in the state’s history.
Prince William today made his most passionate plea yet to end the illegal wildlife trade in ivory from elephants and rhinos, saying he is “not prepared to be part of a generation that lets these iconic species disappear”.
– COP 17 in Johannesburg includes proposals by Namibia and Zimbabwe to sell ivory stockpiles; a proposal by other African nations led by Kenya to keep the global ivory trade on lockdown by including all of the continent’s elephant populations in Appendix I; a proposal by Swaziland for permission to sell rhino horn from its stockpile to worldwide buyers; and initiatives to bring greater protection to sharks and pangolins, a small, scaly animal regarded as the world’s most illegally trafficked mammal. But there is one proposal that officials surprisingly hope won’t be adopted: increasing the protections for elephants across the African continent.
Villagers and elephants are competing for scarce water in a remote part of Namibia, one of a minority of African nations that will push for the right to sell millions of dollars’ worth of ivory at an global wildlife meeting that starts Saturday.
The fact that Namibia’s elephant population has grown from “just over 7,500 to over 20,000 at present” during a time when the worldwide trade in ivory is outlawed and Muchinguri-Kashiri’s statement that “at the moment, due to the economic value attached to the elephants, there is a huge incentive for conservation” appear to contradict the two ministers’ own assertions that the animals only have value because of their ivory or that their successful conservation necessarily requires the ivory trade.
Yesterday, the United States delegation registered its official position for the conference on this issue as ‘undecided pending consultation with African elephant range states.’ “This letter”, says Weber, “could sway the USA delegation to the support Appendix I”. In these countries, elephants’ Appendix II status means that non-commercial trade for hunting purposes is allowed. In the 14 century, it was often crafted into piano keys and items of luxury.
A June 2016 study by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research backs that idea.
It noted an estimated 71 percent increase in ivory smuggling out of Africa “while corresponding patterns are absent from natural mortality and alternative explanatory variables”.
It is illegal to sell elephant ivory without a special license.
The European Union said it “will support a continuation of the ban on global trade in ivory and press for the adoption of strong measures against ivory trafficking, as well as trafficking affecting rhinoceroses, tigers, great apes, pangolins and rosewood”.
In responding to a recent enquiry under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs advised that the country is now stockpiling just over 65,000 kilograms of ivory.
Conservationists are campaigning against proposals by Zimbabwe and Namibia to be exempted from the global ban on ivory trade.
“If you look at the communities that are bearing the brunt of living with these animals, their ecological systems are degraded and they lose food security and grazing lands”, she said.
“We shouldn’t think that because we are doing well we should be selfish”, Khama said. “This is now, these species, they are looking extinction in the face and it’s our fault”, said one of the protesters, the President of Animal Defenders International, Jan Creamer.
“Those sales stimulated the market in China and Japan-where ivory carvings are cherished-and fueled a billion-dollar nightmare racket”, Alles said.
Researchers are concerned that this lack of data is placing the wellbeing and survival of seized wildlife at risk as many wild animals could be re-entering the wildlife trafficking industry as they simply cannot be accounted for.
An elephant walks during sunset in Amboseli National park in Kenya. Africa is divided over how to conserve elephants whose population has plummeted in the last decade.
The number of Africa’s savannah elephants dropped by about 30 per cent from 2007 to 2014 – to 352,000 – because of poaching, according to a United Nations recent study.
The Department of Environmental Affairs however says the CITES conference is an opportunity for South Africa to showcase its rich biodiversity and successful conservation initiatives based on sustainable-use management practices.
Zimbabwe says its elephant population has stabilized at 80,000.
Ivory is now priced at about $1,100 dollars per kilo in China and Vietnam, according to the organisation Pro Wildlife. They see this as an incentive for their conservation of elephant habitat.
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Since culling was halted at Kruger in 1994, the elephant population has swollen from around 8,000 to 17,000 – and other animals have not suffered, he said.
