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Miscellaneous See other Miscellaneous Articles Title: .6 tons of seized ivory crushed in Denver ....COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — U.S. officials on Thursday destroyed more than 6 tons of confiscated ivory tusks, carvings and jewelry — the bulk of the U.S. "blood ivory" stockpile — and urged other nations to follow suit to fight a $10 billion global trade that slaughters tens of thousands of elephants each year. Thousands of ivory items accumulated over the past 25 years were piled into a large pyramid-shaped mound, then dumped into a steel rock crusher that pulverized it all into dust and tiny chips at the National Wildlife Property Repository just north of Denver. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will donate the particles to a yet-to-be-determined museum for display. "These stockpiles of ivory fuel the demand. We need to crush the stores of ivory worldwide," said agency director Dan Ashe. He said keeping stockpiles intact can feed consumer demand for illegal souvenirs and trinkets taken from slain elephants. Before the crush, Fish and Wildlife officials showed off thousands of confiscated ivory tusks, statues, ceremonial bowls, masks and ornaments — a collection they said represented the killing of more than 2,000 adult elephants. The items were seized from smugglers, traders and tourists at U.S. ports of entry after a global ban on the ivory trade took effect in 1989. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced a $1 million reward Wednesday for information leading to the dismantling of a Laos-based criminal syndicate, the Xaysavang Network, that Kerry said poaches elephants for ivory. That group and others poach to fund narcotics, arms and human trafficking, the State Department said in a statement. The message from Thursday's crush likely will reach consumers more than the faraway poachers and smugglers. Elephant poaching is at an all-time high, thanks in large part to U.S. demand and growing demand in Asia. The British-based Born Free Foundation estimates poachers killed 32,000 elephants last year. It says black-market ivory sells for around $1,300 per pound. Most elephants are killed in Africa, where there are about 300,000 African elephants left. There are an estimated 50,000 Asian elephants found from India to Vietnam. The ivory being destroyed didn't include items legally imported or acquired before the 1989 global ban. Why the US Will Destroy, Not Sell, Its Ivory Stockpile To combat elephant poaching, the United States is preparing to publicly pulverize its 6-ton stockpile of illicit ivory this week, which has likely left many wondering, why not just sell it instead? Though ivory can fetch higher prices than gold, many conservationists argue that destroying confiscated trinkets, carvings and tusks rather than selling them sends a signal to buyers, traffickers and suppliers that ivory will no longer be tolerated as a legitimate commercial product. Today the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) called on other governments to follow the United States' lead and crush or burn their ivory stockpiles, too. [Elephant Images: The Biggest Beasts on Land] "Right now, Africa is hemorrhaging elephants," Patrick Bergin, CEO of the African Wildlife Foundation, said in a statement. "The only way to staunch the movement of illegal ivory is to wipe out the demand, and that begins with destroying stockpiles and stopping trade." The AWF is also urging countries to go a step further and halt their domestic ivory trade until all elephant populations are no longer threatened. After poaching halved Africa's elephant population in the 20th century, the international ivory trade was banned in 1989. Domestic sales, however, continue in countries like the United States and China. These lucrative legal markets give a cover — and a monetary incentive — for ivory smugglers, the organization argues. "The stockpiles along with the legality of the ivory trade in some countries creates ambiguity and doubt, and makes law enforcement and the differentiation between legal and illegal ivory almost impossible," reads the AWF's position on ivory stockpiles. "These conditions create the impression that ivory is a legitimate commodity to be traded, held and speculated on, and which will hold or increase in value over the long term." Currently, it's estimated that more than 30,000 African elephants are killed for their ivory tusks annually. Last year, a report from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, found that elephant poaching was at its highest in a decade. The uptick in killings has been tied to an unsustainable demand for ivory, especially in Asia. Bergin argued that rising affluence in Asia and poverty in Africa has created "a perfect storm with elephants at the center." "What the rich person demands, the poor poacher provides," Bergin said in a statement. "In between is a nefarious network of criminals, terrorists, rebels, and corrupted officials and business people only too eager to pilfer a slice of the pie." The ivory crush will be a first for United States, but it follows similar acts by other countries. The Philippine government crushed and burned its ivory hoard earlier this year, and in 2012, and the Central African nation Gabon set fire to its confiscated ivory — all 10,637 lbs. (4,825 kilograms) of it. Oftentimes destroying ivory isn't just a symbolic gesture. It can be costly to maintain and document the stockpiles and protect them from theft. According to the African Conservation Foundation, Tanzania spent $75,000 each year to secure its stockpile of 12,131 tusks. The question of what to do with these stores, if not just destroy them, has sparked debate among conservationists in recent years. In 2007, CITES granted Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe an exception from the international ivory trade ban to make a one-off sale of their stockpiles to China and Japan, with the proceeds going to conservation efforts. But at the next CITES meeting, in 2010, Zambia and Tanzania sparked controversy with similar requests. Zambia eventually withdrew its bid and Tanzania's proposal didn't garner enough votes. CITES, in their 2012 report on the poaching crisis, said researchers have not found a link between these one-off sales and the recent rise in elephant killings. And while AWF noted that successful conservation investments came out of those sales, the group is now encouraging countries to take a more unified stance on the illegitimacy of ivory. Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience. ___ Associated Press writer P. Solomon Banda contributed to this report. Poster Comment: Probably would have been better to dump the ivory on the market, bring down price to make it un-or-less profitable to kill elephants. Destruction will keep the price high and encourage more killings. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
Preposterous! It would make so much more sense if they said it was the other way around. When did Americans and the rest of the world, for that matter get so stupid that they can get off with making these claims? Oh! How could they miss a chance to mention terrorist's? Do I have to say I'm not for killing elephants? “Anti-semitism is a disease–you catch it from Jews”–Edgar J. Steele “The jew cries out in pain, as he strikes you.”–Polish proverb “I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless quotes I published in my tag lines. I am very sorry and ashamed. I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights."- Hmmmmm
I had the same thought, though putting it on the market arguably generates interest as well. One millionaire buddy gets a piece of ivory so then all his buddies have to get one too.... Since we're not talking about a commodity that will ever be in plentiful supply, standard supply and demand rules may not apply...... dunno....
Over time supply increases as collectors die.
... actually the supply is the same. Demand decreases... hehe.
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