Don’t compensate ivory traders, Kenyan park ranger urges HK
hong Kong: A Kenyan park ranger who said his closest friend was shot dead while protecting elephants urged Hong Kong not to compensate the city’s ivory traders in an emotive speech to lawmakers.
Hong Kong is a major hub for ivory sales, and last year announced that it would introduce a total ban on the trade.
But authorities later clarified they would only completely abolish the trade by 2021, drawing criticism they were dragging their feet and trailing China, where officials last year pledged to halt the enterprise by the end of 2017.
Angry ivory traders in Hong Kong say they will be forced to close down their businesses and are demanding the government compensate them for their stock, a move opponents say would fuel the illicit business and encourage stockpiling.
Despite the planned ban, the trade is still flourishing in Hong Kong, which saw its biggest ivory bust in three decades in July, when more than seven tonnes of tusks worth over US$9mil (RM38mil) were seized.
During a public debate at the city’s legisla- ture over the ivory ban Bill, ranger Chris Leadismo, the head of wildlife security at NGO Save the Elephants in northern Kenya, said he and his colleagues put their lives on the line to protect elephants.
“I still recall the death of my very closest friend Joseph, who was shot dead while in the line of duty in June this year. There is still pain in my heart,” Leadismo said.
He told how he left his wife and sons for long periods of time as part of his work to protect the elephants in his area.
“I know it breaks her heart, but I still go because if no one keeps the peace in our landscape, eventually we will all be victims of poachers, one way or another,” he said.
However, traders hit back, saying they had been forced to sell off their remaining stock for the past 27 years, following an international ban in 1989.
But Leadismo said compensation would only fuel the business.
“As they are compensated, more elephants will die to fuel this trade, and I will lose more comrades, or even my life as a wildlife ranger,” he said.