The killing of elephants for their tusks has always been a problem, and now, with elephants verging on being endangered, action must be taken. The only concivable response is to close all ivory markets and destroy all stockpiles. See, once illegal ivory is laundered into the legal ivory market, its very very difficult for authorites to track and confiscate. One answer other than shutting everything down is to protect the elephants, but the cost as far as funding and human lives goes will continue to increase and become unsustainable. As long as there is a way for poachers to sell the ivory in a manner that appears to be legal, they will continue.
It would take a lot of time and effort, but I believe it to be important that the poaching of elephants be stopped, and if closing the ivory markets be the only way, so be it. Jobs would be lost, national income in some countries would be affected, and, of course, ivory would disappear. These are barriers that stand in the way of immediate action being taken. The people debating over this issue say that eventually the ivory markets could be reopened, but there would be a long time without them.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140807145458.htm
I was aware that people have always hunted elephants for their tusks, but I did not know that ivory had become such a high demand that the practice has almost endangered the species. I also did not know that closing the market altogether would have such an effect on some national incomes. I agree with you that it is extremely important that we close the ivory market in order to protect the elephants. With that in mind, do you have any idea if experts have come up with a plan for these areas to provide themselves with an alternative source of income until the ivory markets can be reopened?
ReplyDeleteExperts nation by nation have discussed closing the ivory markets and the effects it would have. One such nation is Thailand, where asian elephants are especially at risk. Nothing I've read has said what other sources of income could be used, only that its being debated over. The risks of closing the markets are being weighed against the cost of not, nation by nation. If the markets do close, it will not be an international decision more than likely, and if some nations close and others don't, the desired affect (stopping elephant poaching) won't be achieved.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea hunting and killing elephants for their tusks was such a large issue and that elephants are extinct animals. I agree with your statement that shutting down ivory markets is a measure that needs to be taken because if it is such a big problem, people should be making a bigger effort to stop it. It's disgusting to me that someone would kill an animal only for one part of their body to the point where they are endangered. Ivory should not be that important to an individual and it seems like people have taken this too far. What country is this mainly an issue in?
ReplyDeleteThailand is the worse, with Kenya as a close second. I agree with you on the gross factor, and what I found more shocking is that the countries where the ivory markets are their key source of income, at least 76% of their overall income is through illegal means.
ReplyDeleteElephants are actually in the middle of an increase in population in Africa right now. The ivory market has not been a problem for a while in Africa. You can't shut down something completely otherwise it will all go black market where there are no regulations. The better solution that has been proven to work is to work with local people on regulating the trade so that way populations can still increase while they are still hunted. Rhinos are the biggest ivory problems nowadays.
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