China is following through on its promise to close down its domestic ivory trade by the end of the year, which means the door to one of the world's largest markets for elephant ivory will soon be shut.
When Beijing announced the ban in December last year, conservation groups welcomed it as 'the biggest and best conservation news of 2016'.
But already there are signs that business is moving elsewhere.
A new report by the Save the Elephants conservation group shows that Laos has become one of the fastest growing ivory markets in the world.
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Showing posts with label elephant ivory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elephant ivory. Show all posts
Friday, October 20, 2017
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Elephants still at risk with Laos replacing China as ivory market
An elephant is lifted by a crane in an upside down position during a relocation exercise from Chemeron Farm in Rongai, Nakuru County to Aberdare National Park, on September, 28, 2017. The African elephant is still under threat as a new market for ivory emerges in Laos on the border of Thailand.
In Summary
Poaching to satisfy demand for ivory by Asian markets has seen the worst declines in Africa’s overall elephant population in the past 10 years.
In 1979, when 1.2 million elephants roamed Africa, Kenya had 167,000, says the Kenya Wildlife Service. Today, the total elephant population in Kenya is estimated at 38,000.
The conservationists said the world needed to put pressure on the Laos Government and other countries around china, such as Burma and Vietnam, to act on the burgeoning trade, if efforts to conserve the African elephant are going to work.
It was something of a triumph when China announced earlier this year that it was going to enforce a ban on domestic ivory trade.
However, a conservation group that has been studying the situation now says the African elephant is still under threat as the trade shifts to Laos.
Conservationists working under the umbrella of Save the Elephants Foundation said Thursday that as ivory shops and carving factories closed shop in China following the State-sanctioned ban, more were popping up in the tourist markets northwest of Laos on the border of Thailand close to Burma and China.
The ivory researchers who have been trailing the trade in ivory around the world for decades say the Chinese have moved their trade across the border to maintain demand with a long cultural heritage in China, making the southeast Asian country the fastest growing market in the world.
To read the full article, click on the story title
In Summary
Poaching to satisfy demand for ivory by Asian markets has seen the worst declines in Africa’s overall elephant population in the past 10 years.
In 1979, when 1.2 million elephants roamed Africa, Kenya had 167,000, says the Kenya Wildlife Service. Today, the total elephant population in Kenya is estimated at 38,000.
The conservationists said the world needed to put pressure on the Laos Government and other countries around china, such as Burma and Vietnam, to act on the burgeoning trade, if efforts to conserve the African elephant are going to work.
It was something of a triumph when China announced earlier this year that it was going to enforce a ban on domestic ivory trade.
However, a conservation group that has been studying the situation now says the African elephant is still under threat as the trade shifts to Laos.
Conservationists working under the umbrella of Save the Elephants Foundation said Thursday that as ivory shops and carving factories closed shop in China following the State-sanctioned ban, more were popping up in the tourist markets northwest of Laos on the border of Thailand close to Burma and China.
The ivory researchers who have been trailing the trade in ivory around the world for decades say the Chinese have moved their trade across the border to maintain demand with a long cultural heritage in China, making the southeast Asian country the fastest growing market in the world.
To read the full article, click on the story title
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