Here's some interesting info. What are your comments and concerns?


African states call for 20-year ban on ivory Tue Apr 24, 2:39 PM ET

African states called Tuesday for a 20-year ban on trade in ivory to protect the continent's elephants from poachers and possible extinction in the wild.

Kenya and Mali, which spearheaded the moratorium along with Togo and Ghana, are seeking to have the measure adopted at the June meeting of the 169-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), their representatives said at a meeting in Paris.

A delegation representing some 20 African nations, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger, will tour Europe this week to secure backing from the European Union for the ban, they said.

"The elephants are dramatically becoming depleted," said Patrick Omondi, head of species conservation and management at the Kenya Wildlife Service. "A 20-year moratorium is necessary to allow the population to recover, and to refine the mechanisms of law enforcement."

The African representatives lashed out at partial bans and quotas that have been implemented in the past.

"Every time CITES authorises the sale of limited quantities of ivory, we witness an increase in poaching and illegal trade," said Bourama Niagate, head of the delegation and of nature conservation in Mali.

"We are confronted with men who are very organized and better armed than our standing armies, and at the same time we are in charge of protecting hundreds of thousands of hectares (acres) of parks and preserves without even basic communication tools," he said.

According to a report submitted by the African nations to CITES, the continent's elephant population has plummeted approximately ten fold from up to five million in the 1940s to 400,000 to 600,000 today.

Some 20,000 elephants are killed by poachers every year, according to the document.

Illegal hunting has devastated elephant populations in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, the DRC, as well as in Niger, Mali, Malawi and Chad, where poachers recently killed three park officials.

"At 850 dollars a kilo for ivory in Japan, a poacher will go to any lengths to obtain 10 or 20 kilos," said the DRC's representative, Cosma Wilungula Balongelwa. "We have already lost our rhinoceros because of the trade in their horns."

In Sub-Saharan Africa, only a handful of countries -- South Africa, Namibia and Botswana -- do not support the moratorium. These nations are authorised by CITES to export limited quantities of ivory on the condition that they maintain elephant populations at certain levels through conservation.

Well ....

By removing the economic incentive to protect elephant herd levels, the ban would just about completely guarantee the total destruction of elephant as a free-ranging species in Africa.

But aside from that, I'm all for it.


In all things, follow the money.

quote:

Kenya and Mali

HSUS and IFAW pay big money for those countries to introduce proposals such as these at CITES.

Kenya's Conservation Crisis Set To Continue?

Here is the problem:

quote:

Illegal hunting has devastated elephant populations in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, the DRC, as well as in Niger, Mali, Malawi and Chad, where poachers recently killed three park officials.

Here is the solution:

quote:

In Sub-Saharan Africa, only a handful of countries -- South Africa, Namibia and Botswana -- do not support the moratorium. These nations are authorised by CITES to export limited quantities of ivory on the condition that they maintain elephant populations at certain levels through conservation.

Wait, I thought there were something like 400,000 elephants in Africa, more than elk in NA, and that the problem was TOO many elephants. I read an article a couple years (or more) back that kruger had more elephants than the park could support but they couldn't do anything about it because all the greenies running interference.

Red

Commercial trade in ivory is already banned. This measure would extend that ban.

It is a good idea, as long as the exemption for personal use of sport hunted ivory is maintained.

The commercial trade ban has helped the elephant rebound in numbers in many parts of Africa, but don't get the idea that I think it is enough. There will always be a black market, especially in Asia. Anti-poaching measures must be funded and maintained if elephant are to be truly protected.

Sport hunters, as a chief source of funding for anti-poaching efforts, and also by virtue of being in the field, with professional hunters and game scouts and with weapons in hand, are prime deterrents to poaching everywhere that hunting is permitted.

Poaching thrives and elephant numbers decline most in places, like Kenya and Mali, where hunting has been banned.

I've always felt that the root of this evil lies in the end product. Not to change the subject, but if you want to stop Rhino poaching for their horns, just infiltrate the trade with tainted Rhino powder. Make the user so sick he would never try it again. (by the way, haven't you ASSHOLES ever heard of Viagra?) Personally, I think the trade should be bombarded with Pronghorn Antelope horn powder. They (ringleaders) would have to run DNA tests to tell the difference and the buying public would be too leary to trust sellers. After all, they are criminals of the low variety. As for the Elephant, African countries that ban all Ivory (including hunting) should be boycotted by the hunting fraternity. Hunt countries that: 1. allow sport hunting of Ele under quota 2. direct a specific amount of the trophy fee towards Ele conservation 3. use hunting as the main course of conservation, i.e., overpopulation or PAC animals. Licenses issued as opposed to Gov't culling. Currently, some countries realize how to manage their game, and it's not broken so don't try to fix it. The Anti's are behind this...no question. Idjits!

LDK,
you are right on the money!!!!