Sanctioned ivory trade

SIR – It is obvious that making it illegal to shoot elephants for their ivory and banning the sale of anything made from, or containing, “modern” ivory is not working (Letters, December 23). The population of elephants in Africa continues to fall.

Politicians now propose a similar ban on the sale of antique ivory. It would be better to saturate the market, driving the price down enough to make the poaching of ivory uneconomical.

Tusks continue to grow throughout the lifetime of an elephant. More high-quality ivory can be obtained by harvesting the tusks after the elephant has died of natural causes. Many tons of ivory, captured from poachers, are currently destroyed by burning. Due to the ban on selling ivory, this material has no legitimate value. If the ivory could be sold, the money could then be used to help protect the remaining elephants and provide a boost to the local economy.

The ban on killing elephants should, of course, be retained and enforced. In addition, I suggest that all elephants should be tagged using the Argos satellite system, already widely used to track wild animals and birds. As soon as an elephant dies the tusks should be harvested by a licensed taskforce, if necessary using helicopters.

The ivory, whether recovered from poachers or obtained from natural deaths, should be sold on the newly legitimised market and identified so that it can be tracked back to source. Neil Campbell

Canterbury, Kent