http://www.bangkokpost.com/bre...d-24-tonnes-of-ivory


Malaysia seizes record ivory haul
Published: 11/12/2012 at 06:40 PM Online news:
Kuala Lumpur _ Malaysian customs have seized 24 tonnes of unprocessed elephant tusks worth almost 60 million ringgit (600 million baht), the largest haul in the country to date, officials said on Tuesday.

Some 1,500 tusks hidden in two containers were discovered by customs officials at the country's main port of Klang, in the western state of Selangor.

The tusks had been hidden within pieces of timber inside the containers, which had originated from the west African nation of Togo.

State customs director Azis Yaacub said in a statement that the cargo had been transferred from one ship to another in Spain and was believed to be headed to China.

``The two containers were found to be filled with sawn timber. Inside the wood there were secret compartments that were filled with elephant tusks,'' he said.


Malaysia's customs officers take out elephant tusks hidden among wooden floor tiles from two containers at the customs house in Malaysia's port town of Klang outside Kuala Lumpur. (AFP Photo)
The haul is worth 60 million ringgit. Officials said that the seizure last Friday was the fourth in the past year and was larger than the other three combined.

Wildlife trade-monitoring network TRAFFIC has described Malaysia as a major hub for illicit wildlife products.

International trade in elephant ivory was banned in 1990 with rare exceptions, such as auctions of tusks from elephants that have died naturally, or that have been seized from poachers in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.

However, the ivory trade has grown globally since 2004, largely due to demand in China, where it is used in traditional medicine.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, African elephant populations may have been as high as five million in the first part of the 20th century, but their numbers could now be as low as 470,000.

Sad to hear; seems like an everyday occurance.

Where the hell is the market for this stuff and why can't anybody seem to shut it down? I don't see tusks for sale and in my buddies living rooms, is this all going to asia? weirdo's thinking it has some medicinal properties?

Red

quote:

was believed to be headed to China.

The attraction in ivory leans more towards the manufacture of personalized 'seal' - similar to those used by the aristocracy in Victorian times.

The Chinese aristocracy of today pays big money to have their name emblazoned on a piece of ivory.

The problem is the bloody politicians!

Instead of burning tons and tons of ivory to satisfy their egos, they could have sold it, satisfied the market, and made some money to help with anti-poaching.

Also, why don't they allow countriesd that have stockpiles of ivory to sell?

+1

I agree, Saeed.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
The problem is the bloody politicians!

Instead of burning tons and tons of ivory to satisfy their egos, they could have sold it, satisfied the market, and made some money to help with anti-poaching.

Yeah, but if Kenya had sold that legal(state owned) ivory the value of the illegal ivory that the Kenyan politicians had would have plummeted.

And even if the state owned ivory had been sold the politicians would not have been able to access the money from the sale, whereas the money from their illegal ivory went straight into their pockets.

Burning the ivory drove up prices and made them richer.