Wildlife Alert: Nambia Begins Auctioning Ivory For First Time In Decade
October 29, 2008
The African nation of Nambia is raising some eyebrows over a recent decision to host the first public auction of Ivory in over 10 years. Over recent days Nambia has, and will be, auctioning off more than 108 tons of elephant tusks–roughly the equivilent of 10,000 elephants–to Japan, China, and other Asian nations. Much of the tusks will be sold into the Asian medicine market in a one-time sale.
In 1989, Africa banned the ivory trade to cut down on endangered animals being poached, namely the Rhinos and elephants of Africa. Most of the ivory put up for auction by Nambia is suppose to be ‘old’ ivory, meaning that it was already there before the ban, or came from animals that died on their own in the wild. Many wildlife organizations and African nations fear that this new auction for ivory will spark a new attempt by poachers to cash in on the trade.
The money raised by the sale of Nambia’s ivory is suppose to go to elephant conservation projects, or be used by the locals, whose area the elephants have devastated. Three other nations have been authorized to make substantial auctions of Africa’s ivory alongside Nambia. They include Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa-the substantial range where Africa’s 600,000 elephants now reside.
To read more on the current ivory situation in Nambia, the Times-Online has put up a great article with quite a bit more detail.
Photo: Lukas Vermeer via Flickr
Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it,From The Adventurist Vault:
Written by Jason A. Hendricks · Filed Under Wildlife |
