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| courtesy of TRAFFIC |
China's symbolic act of crushing 6.15 metric tons of poached ivory is worth mentioning at
PNG because China's environmental record is generally deplorable, and China is the world's largest market for illegal ivory. Hopefully, the ceremony held in Dongguan indicates the government's willingness to get tough on the body parts trade that flourishes in China. At least that is the idea expressed by the deputy head of the State Forestry Administration; why the head of the administration could not be present at the ceremony was not explained by officials. Current Chinese law provides penalties for trading in elephant ivory from six months to life imprisonment. A few weeks ago, eight Chinese citizens were convicted and sentenced to 3 to 15 years for smuggling 3 tons of illegal ivory. The ivory crushed to rubble included raw tusks as well as carved items. Regardless of official Chinese intentions, the elephant slaughter in Africa goes on, fueled by high prices for ivory. China is the destination market for most of the poached ivory. An estimated 22,000 elephants were killed in 2012 or 96 elephants a day. At that rate, local extinctions are not far away. If elephants are to be saved from this terrible fate, all nations must commit to an absolute ban on all trade in ivory which has been irrationally imbued by man with special value beyond its physical properties.
US Person believes live elephants are more valuable than dead libation cups.