China calls on US to follow its lead in eradicating ivory trade

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/09/china-us-eradicate-ivory-trade#

by adamnemecek • 11 years ago

29 20 11 years ago

adamnemecek5• 11 years ago

Currently, a lot of states are considering banning sales of ivory. If you want to get involved, please consider contacting your representatives and voicing your support for these bans.

Over at /r/babyelephantgifs, we made a post which should explain everything that you need to know and which also includes a template that you can use when contacting your representatives

https://www.reddit.com/r/babyelephantgifs/comments/338f7t/co...

The situation is dire. At the current rate of poaching, elephants will be extinct in the next 10-15 years. Even though China is currently the biggest consumer of illegal ivory, the US is in second place.

You guys should also consider donating to the International Anti-Poaching Foundation[0][1] which fights the poachers. The founder, Damien Mander[2], is an Australian ex spec-ops sniper who is using his military experience to train the park rangers since they, unlike the poachers, tend to be poorly equipped and trained as well as understaffed.

There is also the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust[3][4] which takes care of elephant and rhino orphans (most of whom are orphans due to poaching). For $50 a year, you can become a sponsor of a particular animal and they'll send you photos and updates about how your sponsored animal is doing. You can for example sponsor this little girl [5][6] who was rescued[7] just the other day. This sponsorship is a pretty great gift.

[0] http://www.iapf.org/en/

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Anti-Poaching_Fo...

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Mander

[3] http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sheldrick_Wildlife_Trust

[5] http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/orphan_profile.asp...

[6] https://instagram.com/p/3tgs8CgUJd/

[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHRosmdsoW0

buckbova2• 11 years ago

Is this even a problem in the states? Only I've ever seen is faux-ivory.

"The United States is the second-largest market globally for illegal wildlife products after China, and it still allows trade in ivory acquired before a worldwide ban in 1989."

This doesn't seem like an issue to me.

adamnemecek5• 11 years ago

This doesn't seem like an issue to me.

How is it not an issue? Are you concerned about extinction of species?

buckbova2• 11 years ago

ivory acquired before a worldwide ban in 1989

This allows those who own ivory, potential many historical, to trade in those pieces.

How does this contribute to extinction? Unless there's time travel involved.

ekanes• 11 years ago

A clearer way to send a message or take a stand is to be absolute. "No ivory sold here" is stronger and clearer than "Some ivory is fine, depending on how old it is"

peapicker• 11 years ago

So my 1920's piano would then be illegal to sell, just because it has ivory on the keys?

drzaiusapelord• 11 years ago

We've stopped dealing in it, except for whatever was grandfathered in 20+ years ago.

Meanwhile, animal welfare in China is an absolutely nightmare with many rare and endangered animals ground down into "sex powder" or whatever superstitious nonsense still rules Chinese culture and Chinese "alternative" medicine, which is a very popular pseudo-science.

Its only recently that China outlawed things like tiger penis and rhino horn, but the damage has already been done. China is still very much behind the times. Also the statistic of 70% of Chinese not knowing where ivory comes from is a scary prospect as selling the concept of more animal rights to people ignorant of the basics of the animal trade will be an uphill battle.

https://news.vice.com/article/china-outlaws-the-eating-of-ti...

sehugg• 11 years ago

I'm surprised by the things that are still quasi-legal in the States, for example the consumption of lion meat of dubious origin:

http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/23/smallbusiness/world_cup_lion...

bmm6o2• 11 years ago

The Daily Show had a segment on this a few months ago. IIRC there was a bill in Congress to stop the ivory trade in the US and it had wide support until the NRA spun it as an infringement of your gun rights, because you need to buy/sell/own ivory-handled pistols. Then it was predictably killed.

adamnemecek5• 11 years ago

It wasn't killed. The bills are still being discussed.

bmm6o2• 11 years ago

Right, maybe "killed" isn't the right term, but the impression I got was that it lost the support needed to pass.

China calls on US to follow its lead in eradicating ivory trade

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