eleblog

“Conservationists yesterday attacked a decision by the international community to allow China to buy stockpiles of elephant ivory saying it would lead to more elephants being killed in Africa.” - The Guardian

“The world trade in ivory, banned 19 years ago to save the African elephant from extinction, is about to take off again, with the emergence of China as a major ivory buyer.” - The Independent

“Sale of most elephant ivory is banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES); even the sale of ivory from culled or naturally deceased animals is strictly regulated. Since 1973, most sale of elephant ivory has been prohibited in the United States under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, under which Asian elephants are listed as endangered and African elephants as threatened.” - allAfrica.com

“Meeting under the auspices of the African Elephant Coalition, the group called upon the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) not to allow China to be a partner in limited ivory trade allowed by the UN body two years ago in The Hague.” - The East African

“African elephant range states meeting in Mombasa, Kenya, have raised exception with undue focus on ivory trade within the CITES framework, saying preference should instead be given to conservation of elephants and mitigating challenges such as human wildlife conflict, law enforcement, building management capacity for range states and establishing mechanisms for local and trans- boundary elephant translocations. ” - International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

“56-year-old Michael Francis Elliott of Gravesend has been found guilty and given a two year suspended sentence on charges of illegally trading in elephant ivory, hippopotamus ivory and sperm whale teeth. This follows a lengthy investigation by the Met’s Wildlife Crime Unit that led police to enquiries in China, Latvia and the United States.” - Wildlife Extra

“In the thick jungles straddling TN and Karnataka where Veerappan once reigned and killed over 100 elephants, new poachers have sprouted over the past three years, gunning down 17 elephants so far for their valuable ivory tusks. ” - The Times of India

“Authorities at a wildlife museum adjacent to Corbett tiger reserve are in a fix after two tusks worth more than $ 12,000 were stolen. ” - The Times of India

“Sourcing a piece of illegal ivory could be as easy as a click of a mouse and locating a willing seller on one of the world’s largest websites.” - IOL

“Sourcing a piece of illegal ivory could be as easy as a click of a mouse and locating a willing seller on one of the world’s largest websites.” - IOL

“An animal welfare group charges that eBay sales of ivory are brisker than ever a year after the online marketplace promised to restrict the sale of products made from animal teeth and tusks—many of which come from endangered species.” - Scientific American

“According to the park wardens, meat — and hunger — is the main reason behind these killings, not ivory. This is not surprising given the dire poverty that affects much of the population in this part of the Congo.”- Ottawa Citizen

“An upsurge of elephant poaching in the Democratic Republic of Congo has resulted in the killing of 14 elephants in the past two weeks by militias, the military, and local villagers. Four were felled by an ex-Rwandan Hutu FDLR militia, formerly known as Interahamwe. Three elephants were murdered by the local Mai-Mai militia (PARECO), five by the Congolese military (FARDC), and two by local villagers. From eastern Congo’s Virunga National Park where the slaughter occurred, Emmanuel de Morode, who heads the conservation group Wildlife Direct, says the killing frenzy was also encouraged by a readily available pool of weapons.” - VOA News

“Regular readers of Environmental Graffiti will recognize that I was, as I usually am, totally, completely wrong. America, as it turns out, is the second largest consumer of Ivory in the world, and contributes heavily to the poaching and black market trade.”- Environmental Graffiti

“A male Indian elephant eats bamboo. Nearly one-third of ivory items for sale in the United States may have been illegally imported after a US moratorium on the trade imposed in 1989, conservation groups said in a report Monday.” - Yahoo! News Photos