Stop the Killing of Elephants

Update:  Good on ya! The UN CITIES committee meeting in Qatar over the weekend turned down Tanzania's and Zambia's petition to sell off government stocks of captured ivory.  However, Kenya's bid to ban sales for twenty years was withdrawn because of lack of support. The officials faced the fact that poaching is rife on the continent, especially in West Africa.  The trade exists because of black markets in several Asian and African countries: notably Thailand, Nigeria, and Democratic Republic of Congo. Almost half of the ivory in the applying governments' stockpile is of unknown and possibly illegal origin. Zambia's application was narrowly defeated and its representatives may ask for a revote on Thursday.

{3.16.10} Yes, he's baaaaack!  And US Person wants you to sign up to protect elephants, those remarkable leviathans of the wild kingdom that communicate ultrasonically and visit the bones of their dead just like humans. Tanzania and Zambia are lobbying the UN for a special exemption to sell stockpiled ivory seized from the illegal trade and obtained by official culling operations. Past "one of" sales has increased poaching {7.16.08, 2.26.09, search "ivory sales"}, allowing traders to commingle illegal ivory with legal supplies. There is no reason to think this sale will be any different. Allowing it is tantamount to a death warrant for elephants.  Go to avaaz.org and sign the petition to stop the ivory trade once and for all.