Campaigners reveal illegal ivory trading across EU

Traders are selling illegal ivory openly across the European Union (EU), a campaign group said in a report on Tuesday.

The campaign group Avaaz said more than 100 ivory pieces it bought in 10 EU countries were found to be illegal after they were tested at Oxford University in Britain, indicating a loophole in relevant regulations.

In its report "Europe's Deadly Ivory Trade", Avaaz said a fifth of the items it bought had come from elephants killed after the global ivory trade was banned in 1989 and three quarters were from animals killed after 1947.

Under EU laws, government certificates are legally required for the sale of ivory acquired after 1947 and before 1990. Avaaz said none of the ivory it bought had certificates.

Avaaz campaign director Bert Wander said: "This bombshell evidence proves beyond doubt that illegal ivory is being sold across Europe. It must spark the end of this bloody trade. Every day (when) the sale of these trinkets continues is a day closer to wiping out majestic elephants forever."

The campaign group said it bought the items, both on-line and in shops, from antique dealers and private sellers over a four-month period in Britain, Ireland, Belgium, France, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

It said the study counters claims by the European Commission that there was no evidence of illegal ivory trade in the 28 members of the EU.


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Elephant poachers shot dead by rangers as they tried to steal tusks

A group of five people, believed to be from Uganda, illegally entered Mount Elgon National Park to kill the elephants and steal their tusks on Wednesday.

Two of them were carrying AK-47s.

Three of the poachers were killed and another two injured in the shootout, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said.

‘The officers were on routine patrol inside the park when they encountered five poachers, two of whom were armed,’ KWS said in a statement.

‘A fierce shootout ensued and three of the poachers were gunned down while two others escaped. AK-47 rifles were recovered.’

More than 33,000 elephants are poached each year, which equates to one every 20 minutes.

Poaching has declined sharply in Kenya from a peak in 2012 but it remains a problem, with some 69 elephants and nine rhinos killed last year.

Despite a ban on the international trade in ivory in 1997, African elephants are still being poached in large numbers.

Their tusks are the most sought after, with the ivory being carved into ornaments and jewellery. China is the biggest consumer market for the tusks

Earlier this month, three rhinos were found dead with their horns missing in Meru National Park’s Rhino Sanctuary, in what Kenya’s tourism ministry said was an act of poaching.

Three months earlier, a prominent American investigator of the illegal ivory and rhino horn trade was found dead in his Nairobi home with a stab wound in his neck


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Mammoth ivory among large shipment seized in south China

Several hundred mammoth and elephant ivory products being smuggled into a south China port were seized by port officials in the Chinese province of Guangdong yesterday.

During an inspection, 740 ivory products weighing a total of 28 kilogrammes were discovered by Huangpu Customs officers. Two suspects were also arrested, reported China News Agency.


The shipment is the first to be seized by Huangpu Customs since China banned all ivory trade at the end of 2017. It consisted of 15 kg of illegal African ivory products and 13 kg of undeclared items made from mammoth ivory.

Trade in ivory from the tusks and teeth of mammoths, which became extinct more than 10,000 years ago, is legal and has been growing due to international trade restrictions on elephant ivory.

It is estimated that over half of ivory sold into China is mammoth ivory.

Earlier this month, a 13-year-old Vietnamese schoolgirl was caught by Chinese customs officers at Dongxing port on the southwest coast of China as she attempted to smuggle 49 ivory products strapped to her body.


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Science news in brief: A new way to track elephants and origins of the frog-killing fungus

With a trunk that produces 110 decibel blasts, elephants are well-equipped for long-distance communication. But it turns out they may be letting their feet do some of the talking.

Researchers have found that different elephant activities create distinct “seismic signatures” in the ground. According to a recent study in the journal Current Biology, these vibrations travel farther through the ground than they could through the air.

It presents a new opportunity for conservationists looking to survey the animals at a distance. Despite international efforts to ban the trade of ivory dating back decades, tens of thousands of African elephants continue to be killed for their tusks every year.


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Hong Kong increases wildlife smuggling jail terms

Hong Kong increased the maximum penalty for smuggling and trading endangered species yesterday from two years’ imprisonment to 10 years, as it continues its fight against elephant poaching and illegal ivory trafficking.

“Trade in endangered species is rampant in Hong Kong," said Cheryl Lo, Senior Wildlife Crime Officer for WWF-Hong Kong. "The increased penalty, coupled with strengthened enforcement, will help deter future wildlife crime offenders from using the city as a hub for smuggling and selling."

The raised penalty covers species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix I, including ivory, rhino, the rare totoaba fish and the pangolin, which is considered the most illegally trafficked mammal in the world.

The illegal trade of species listed under Appendices II or III, including some sharks, will also be subject to a new maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment. In March, WWF-Hong Kong announced that the total volume of shark fin imported into Hong Kong had halved over the past decade, due to shipping bans and public campaigns.

Hong Kong is considered to be the largest ivory city market in the world and a major transit hub for illegal wildlife, which WWF-Hong Kong blames on low fines and sentences for traffickers and zero prosecutions of criminal kingpins.

The penalty increase is the first stage of the autonomous territory’s three-part ivory phase-out plan following China's ivory trade ban at the end of 2017.


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China’s ivory sales ban shows need for Asia-wide strategy

Ivory carvings have disappeared from view at Beijing’s liveliest antique market. “China no longer allows trading in ivory goods,” traders said on a visit in March. Some who previously specialised in ivory have switched to selling still-legal mammoth ivory carvings; others have shut down.

China, the world’s biggest importer and consumer of ivory, imposed a comprehensive ban on trade in ivory items at the start of January, in an attempt to halt demand that is driving rapacious poaching. The law is part of internationally co-ordinated measures to protect Africa’s elephants from extinction.

Enforcement has been serious, cutting off visible trading channels and hurting China’s formerly legitimate ivory sales and carving industry. Carving workshops have closed.

But similar touristy antique markets in neighbouring countries continue to sell elephant ivory – which makes enforcement harder. As conservationists expected, underground cross-border transportation of ivory is proving more difficult to shut down than domestic sales.

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Most Chinese consumers support an upcoming ban on elephant ivory in China—if they know about it

By the end of December, it will be illegal to sell or buy elephant ivory in China. But will the new and critical ban succeed in a country that’s home to the largest legal ivory market in the world?
Encouragingly, a new study shows that 86% of those surveyed support the pending ban on ivory trade in China when informed of it. Unfortunately, just 19% could recall any news of the ban unprompted—and fewer than half remembered it when prompted.

WWF and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, commissioned a survey of more than 2,000 people across 15 Chinese cities with active ivory markets to determine how consumers may behave once the ban is in place Dec. 31. The research also investigates what motivates people to purchase ivory—and what may stop them from doing so.

China made history last year after announcing the closure of its legal elephant ivory trade by the end of 2017. Many experts around the world hailed the decision as a game changer for elephants, which poachers kill by the tens of thousands each year for their tusks, primarily to satisfy the demand for ivory products in Asia.

 

Although the ban attracted global attention and support, awareness of it within China is low—a situation that needs to change for the ban to succeed, according to the study. Of those unaware of the upcoming ban, 43% said they would still buy ivory in the future. But once informed that ivory sales and manufacturing will become illegal, that number decreased dramatically to 18%.

The fact that purchasing ivory will soon be illegal is the biggest reason why people say they’ll stop buying it—and that’s a good sign. This suggests that if the ban is both communicated effectively and enforced, it could lead to a significant drop in demand for ivory and provide a much-needed lifeline for elephants.

Promisingly, major markets such as Beijing show a significant decrease in recent sales, with demand shifting to smaller cities in which enforcement and awareness of the ban may lower.

Despite these promising trends, a small but significant percentage of people still intend to purchase ivory despite the ban. Those who regularly travel overseas to places with domestic ivory markets like Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar are most likely to continue buying. The perceived social status of those who own ivory and the “artistic beauty” of carved trinkets still drive some individuals to keep buying ivory despite the ban. This suggests the need to focus efforts on changing the behavior of this group of people, which WWF intends to prioritize in the new year.

“By closing its ivory markets, China is showing its commitment to end its role in the poaching epidemic plaguing Africa’s elephants,” said Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of wildlife conservation at WWF. “It is critical that efforts to enact the ivory trade ban are accompanied by efforts to change consumer behavior in order to reduce demand. There remains strong evidence that the illegal ivory trade is still widespread both online and in unlicensed shops across China, as well as markets in neighboring countries across Asia.”

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