Category — Ivory

It is believed that the elephant may have been fed a poisoned pineapple. The elephant was killed for it’s tusks. – redOrbit

A review of Ivory’s Ghosts: White Gold and the Fate of the Elephant by The Huffington Post.

Ivory’s Ghosts: The White Gold of History and the Fate of Elephants
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The Huffington Post

A review of Ivory’s Ghosts by John Frederick Walker, which traces the history of the ivory trade.

Ivory’s Ghosts: The White Gold of History and the Fate of Elephants
19.00

Bloomberg.com

Vietnam plans to auction six tons of elephant tusks smuggled to the country from Tanzania. The ivory was seized by Vietnamese custom officials. Initially the Tanzania government did nothing about the issue but no plans to take action. It is believed that the tusks were enroute to China.

ThisDay

This is a wonderful interview with the conservationist John Frederick Walker about ivory and protecting African elephants. He also has a new book out called Ivory’s Ghosts: The White Gold of History and the Fate of Elephants

MEDILL Reports

Research shows that it takes 20 years for an elephant family to rebuild after being subjected to the trauma of poaching.

Innovations Report

“Six people were arrested by the US Department of Justice on Wednesday, accused of taking part in a trans-Atlantic ring that routinely sneaked ivory, much of it elaborately carved, out of three African countries – Uganda, Ivory Coast and Cameroon – that prohibit such exports, and then slipped it past customs agents at Kennedy Airport in the elaborately disguised packages. In the US, importing elephant ivory was made a crime in 1976.” – TopNews

The International Fund for Animal Welfare is sponsoring a petition to make the ban on ivory sales permanent. The goal is 25,000 signatures and we have 7,200 so far. Please head over there and add your name to the petition.

“An estimated 20,000 elephants are killed annually for their ivory tusks. And now, the international ban on trading ivory is being relaxed, encouraging poachers to intensify their slaughter of elephants.”

photo credit: Arno & Louise

“Africa’s largest-ever investigation of wildlife crime has unearthed a ton of illegal African elephant ivory, several animal pelts, and hippopotamus teeth, the Kenya Wildlife Service and INTERPOL announced this week. ” – National Geographic News

“3, 8 tonnes of ivory worth US$487 000 were sold yesterday at a special auction conducted exclusively for Chinese and Japanese buyers in Harare.” – Newsnet

“Botswana auctioned 44 tonnes of ivory Friday to buyers from China to Japan at a luxurious resort, officials said, in a closed-door sale expected to rake in millions of dollars.” – AFP

“The Namibian government sold 7.2 metric tons of ivory for $1.2 million, or an average price of $164 a kilo, to Chinese and Japanese buyers in what was the first of four auctions by southern African governments over the two weeks. The proceeds from the sales of the ivory — confiscated as contraband or collected after the culling of “problem elephants” — will go towards funding conservation efforts. “- mongabay

“Ivory went on sale legally yesterday for the first time in almost a decade when the southern African state of Namibia auctioned seven tonnes of elephant tusks exclusively to Chinese and Japanese buyers. ” – Times Online

“The first officially sanctioned sale of ivory in southern Africa for almost a decade opened on Tuesday.” – BBC NEWS

“The sale of 51 tons of stockpiled ivory will benefit elephant research, conservation and community development, according to the South African National Parks (SANParks).” – BuaNews

“Internet auction site eBay has changed its policy on ivory sales ahead of the release of a damning report on the effect of online trading of wildlife products.” – CTV.ca

“The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) today issued a new report charging that users of eBay.com are behind two thirds of the online trade in endangered animals worldwide, specifically, ivory made from tusks ripped from poached elephants. The report comes just months after IFAW accused eBay, Inc., of failing to clamp down on the illegal animal sales and a day after the San Jose, Calif., company announced a global ban on the sale of most types of ivory (with the exception of “antique” items made before 1900 that contain small bits of ivory, such as antique piano keys or tables with ivory inlay).” – Scientific American

“More than 100 tons of stockpiled ivory from four southern African countries is to be auctioned between October 28 and November 6.” – Telegraph