Elephant poaching: ‘Sick’ EU ivory sales ‘cover up illegal trade’
Europe also remains a major exporter of legal, worked ivory to big Asian markets which is also encouraging poaching across Africa, according to experts.
While the numbers of elephants being killed has dropped for the last five years, around 55 are still being killed every day. In many locations, the future of the elephant will not be sustainable if this keeps up.
How come this loophole exists?
The EU has tried to curtail the trade in legal ivory being used as a cover for illegal sales by requiring all material acquired between 1947 and 1990 to be sold with a government issued certificate. But all a seller has to do is say that they believe the ivory comes from before 1947 and it’s almost impossible to contradict them.
Accurately determining the age of a piece of ivory is
What will happen in the EU?
The European Parliament has already called for a ban, and member states like the UK are leading the way with a comprehensive phase out of legal sales on the way to becoming law.
The European Commission is currently reviewing whether or not EU restrictions on ivory go far enough.
Eleonora Panella, from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw), said, “The EU consultation which closed in December 2017, collected almost 90,000 responses.
“We know that the vast majority was from people asking for stringent measures, this has for sure an impact of further decisions.
“We hope that a good decision will be taken soon, we were expecting something already this July, [it] now seems that it has been postponed.
“The Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London in October could be the perfect moment to show the leadership we are asking for.”
I have an ivory trinket, what should I do with it?
If the sales of all ivory pieces is outlawed across the EU and the UK, many people will mixed feelings about the small tokens they’re left with.
Eleonora Panella said, “We would support exemptions such as the ones proposed in the UK for family heirlooms and historical items.
“These should be allowed to be passed down to family members or donated to museums, but they cannot be bought, sold or traded for goods in kind.”
People might also want to donate them to an elephant charity which could arrange for their destruction or use them in educational activities.