China’s Demand for Ivory Endangers Elephants
August 12 is World Elephant Day. It is a day set aside to raise awareness, build knowledge and share solutions for elephant care and management. Despite efforts like this, the ivory trade is flourishing.
Even with a zero tolerance policy, Kenya is a hotbed of black market ivory trade and government officials are facing new challenges as demand exceeds supply. At $700 a pound, raw ivory is being bought, traded, and stolen so Macao’s markets can pawn hand-carved jewellery, figurines, and ornamentals to their customers.
Kenya’s economy took a hit when violence erupted after the 2008 election and caused tourism to drop off. A year later, a drought forced many to look for new ways to feed their families. Poaching is booming business and some people were desparate. Demand was high.
For the newly-rich of China, or bao fa hu (the “suddenly wealthy”), ivory carvings are traditional symbols of wealth and status. Middle-aged men make up the biggest part of this new market and their numbers are growing. Of those arrested for possession of ivory at Jomo Kenyatta, 90% of them are Chinese nationals.
An undercover investigator for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) identified one of the problems as education. The Chinese word for Ivory is elephant’s teeth - xiang ya. Most didn’t realize what it meant for the animal when the bought ivory.
A survey revealed: “Seventy percent thought tusks can fall out and be collected by traders and grow back, that getting ivory did not mean the elephant is killed, and more than 80 percent would reject ivory products…if they knew elephants were being killed.”
While the trade of ivory is outlawed outside of the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) monitored supply and sale, ivory carvings abound at markets around the world. Governments urge travellers to be careful when travelling to parts unknown, coming home with the wrong souvenirs can result in a large fine.
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