Stop The Poachers
HELP SAVE THE ELEPHANT - STOP THE BLOODY IVORY TRADE
I write this with a heavy heart. A death knell has sounded for elephants. I was there as the bell tolled, but can scarcely believe it’s true.
Elephants – most intelligent, most sensitive of creatures – have been condemned to a bloody death.
Other even more ominous sounds have quickly followed…
The deafening crack of an automatic weapon; the mechanical drone of a chain-saw; the rhythmic chopping of an axe. The sickening sound of terrified elephants being brutally killed, then butchered for their tusks.
Unbelievably, ivory is big business once again. A savage new bloodbath is underway by ruthless poachers.
The international ivory trade is supposed to be illegal. But China has been given the green light to purchase ‘stockpiled’ ivory. Make no mistake what this means. Poachers have been given the green light to slaughter more elephants.
During a recent meeting in Geneva, the CITES¹ Standing Committee, including the UK, voted to allow China to buy ivory from four southern African nations - South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. China can now bid for 108 tonnes of stockpiled tusks.
It is just disastrous. China is the centre of the world’s illegal ivory trade. For example, 790kg of illegal ivory was seized in China earlier this year. Also, just one day after the Standing Committee’s ruling, three Chinese nationals were arrested in Kenya attempting to smuggle ivory. Carved ivory is a thriving business in China and hugely lucrative.
Leading a Born Free team in Geneva, as part of the Species Survival Network, I did everything I could to prevent CITES’ irresponsible decision. But the political pressure was inexorable.
Japan had already been approved by CITES as a licensed buyer in 2006. Now China and Japan will bid against each other for this ‘legal’ ivory. I predict the price of the ivory will go sky-high, stimulating the already massive black market in illegal ivory. So more elephants will die. The incentive to kill elephants and smuggle ivory will be heightened still further.
This new decision is like pouring petrol on an open fire. It is naïve and deadly. Already more than 20,000 elephants are estimated to be illegally killed and dismembered every year by poachers. That’s 55 every day. That’s two every hour.
There were around one million elephants in 1979. Now that number has fallen to 475,000. Small, vulnerable elephant populations in West and Central African countries are most at risk. Large parts of Africa are running red with elephants’ blood.
Pause for a moment. Consider what this means. Elephants… immense, sentient, gentle creatures, who display awareness and understanding, with intricate social lives and complex culture passed through generations. Reduced to massive, bloody corpses for people’s greed.
Elephants. Condemned by CITES. Annihilated by poachers. Hacked to pieces for their ivory. See my devastating report for details.
I’m stunned and appalled. But this is no time for rhetoric. The terrible decision has been made. Now is the time for strong decisive action. What is Born Free going to do about it?
We need to raise money. We must protect wild elephants. We must support wildlife rangers. We must crack down on armed poachers, investigate the illegal trade, infiltrate trading gangs and ensure ivory dealers are arrested. The report explains more.
We can do this. But we can’t do it alone. We need help. We need funds. We need you.
For this is an emergency. We need to galvanise and newly inspire our colleagues on the conservation front line. We must take action to save the elephant. Help us. Please.
Will Travers
Chief Executive, Born Free Foundation
¹The UN's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
- A new wave of elephant killing is under way
- Butchered for their tusks
- Ivory is big business in China
How your gift could help
£5 could support a wildlife crime officer for one day in Sierra Leone, £30 could help bring offenders to justice for one day in Cameroon, £50 could support an anti-poaching patrol in Kenya for one day. More...
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