For elephants’ sake, all trade in ivory must end

SIR – Gavin Littaur (Letters, September 23) suggests that we should protect the antique ivory market by legislating so that genuine antique ivory is given certification by experts, meaning it can be legally sold.

Unfortunately, the huge amounts of money and criminality involved in the ivory trade will easily pay for the necessary bribery, fraud and “ageing” of new ivory, and will merely increase the demand and the killing.

I can understand the dismay caused in the antiques market by a total ivory ban, but surely it pales into insignificance when compared with the possibility of the world’s elephants being wiped out due to demand for a mere ornament. Ginny Martin

Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire

SIR – Mr Littaur’s proposal to allow the sale of ivory over 100 years old and ban anything newer is fatally flawed.

While the sale of any old Victorian tat containing ivory would be permitted, the sale of such superb works of art as the fine art deco bronze and ivory figures by Ferdinand Preiss – produced in the Thirties and regularly selling for over £10,000 in auction – would be outlawed. Raymond Norman

Hemingstone, Suffolk SIR – Your report (“Ivory bill could leave heirlooms worthless, say critics”, September 16) explains how those whose possessions are less than 10 per cent ivory will have to register the items for a fee.

Those who have inherited or acquired perfectly legally items made from ivory before 1947 are even more disadvantaged. They will no longer be able to sell, or even repair, any item, even if it is over 100 years old. Their only options will be to pass such items on to their children – or destroy them.

This ban will result in a black market and have no effect on the current trade in ivory. The sensible solution would be to register these items along with those that are less 10 per cent ivory, or to allow trading by a limited number of specialist auction houses and dealers registered with an organisation such as the British Antique Dealers Association.

I fully support the ban on post-1947 ivory, having seen elephants at close hand in Africa, Sri Lanka and India. They are magnificent creatures. However, the proposed bill will do nothing to prevent poaching, and will deprive innocent owners of the ability to sell their possessions at some stage in the future. John French London SE21