What Kenya is attempting to do, by burning seized stockpiles of ivory and calling for tighter laws and bans on the trade, is very commendable. The sale of
ivory has been banned in most countries across the world but the illegal trade still continues, fueled by laws in China, for instance, which allows the sale of ivory purchased before the 1989 ban.
Kenya recently burned more than 105 tonnes of ivory, from elephants and over a ton of rhino horn too. This was ivory seized from poachers, who killed thousands of elephants and hundreds of rhinos to collect this quantity of the precious commodity. There are atleast 4,50,000 to 5,00,00 elephants in
Africa alone, but poachers kill atleast 30,000 every year for
their tusks. These acts severely endanger the species. Rhinos
too are killed but not in such large quantities.
The ivory trade is big in Asia, especially China. Activists however
state that the relaxation on the sale of ivory which was
bought before the 1989 ban has created channels by which illegal
ivory is traded. The ban in 1989 was undertaken by the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora, which is organizing a meet later this
year in September. Hopefully, the burning of the ivory stockpile,
seven times larger than any amount ever destroyed before,
spells hope that a complete ban on trade and stricter penalties
for poachers will now be on top of the agenda. This move
might perhaps save the elephant from certain extinction.
