The Ivory Trade
The ivory trade is the act of poaching or illegally hunting an animal for a byproduct of the animal. In this instance it is to obtain and sell the tusks of elephants. Other species to also be hunted for the same reason are the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, and the mammoth. When the poachers try to attack the elephants, they will then wait till they are all in a herd and sitting at a watering hole and killing them by means of poisoning them with darts which results in a slow excruciatingly painful death, stoning them to death, or even by machine guns. When the elephants are killed for their ivory, they are usually smuggled into China and Thailand to make chop-sticks, jewelry, ornaments, hair accessories, and many other items. It is said by some that if some product are made from an animal then it could have healing or mystical powers. Part of the reason why the trade is still happening is because of the not yet disproved powers of the byproducts, the demand for the ivory is pretty much through the roof.
The price of just one kilogram of ivory in the Asian market is anywhere between $1,000 and $1,500. One tusk can cost upwards of around 40,000 euros (UK) and $63,000 (US), and if you were to buy a set of tusks then you are now looking at 80,000 euros (UK) and $126,000 (US). From 1979-1989 the population for African elephants went from 1.3 million to about 600,000. During each of those years approximately 75,000 elephants were killed to obtain their ivory which brought in about 1.3 billion dollars and about 80% were killed illegally.
There really is no good reason to legalize the ivory trade because all it would do is just kill off the elephants even faster and literally expand the whole business as a whole ten fold. The only thing that could or should happen is that it should only be partially legalized. Where only so many can be sold and only so many elephants and to other ivory trade victims can be killed or else there will be a harsh punishment.
The ivory trade does not only kill animals but also humans. Many African villages and groups of people are enslaved to do the dirty work of the ivory trading, the killing, cleaning, and the preparation of the ivory. It also includes governments, mismanagement, and taxpayer abuse wrought from public officials supporting criminal interests. The trade itself also includes the lives affected by the introduction of other illegal activities including, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and weapon trafficking.
-https://phys.org/news/2015-03-botswana-elephant-deaths-anti-poaching-summit.html
-http://www.animal-rights-action.com/ivory-trade.html
-https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/01/ivory-trade-kills-people-20151865914791719.html
The price of just one kilogram of ivory in the Asian market is anywhere between $1,000 and $1,500. One tusk can cost upwards of around 40,000 euros (UK) and $63,000 (US), and if you were to buy a set of tusks then you are now looking at 80,000 euros (UK) and $126,000 (US). From 1979-1989 the population for African elephants went from 1.3 million to about 600,000. During each of those years approximately 75,000 elephants were killed to obtain their ivory which brought in about 1.3 billion dollars and about 80% were killed illegally.
There really is no good reason to legalize the ivory trade because all it would do is just kill off the elephants even faster and literally expand the whole business as a whole ten fold. The only thing that could or should happen is that it should only be partially legalized. Where only so many can be sold and only so many elephants and to other ivory trade victims can be killed or else there will be a harsh punishment.
The ivory trade does not only kill animals but also humans. Many African villages and groups of people are enslaved to do the dirty work of the ivory trading, the killing, cleaning, and the preparation of the ivory. It also includes governments, mismanagement, and taxpayer abuse wrought from public officials supporting criminal interests. The trade itself also includes the lives affected by the introduction of other illegal activities including, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and weapon trafficking.
This a 15 ton pile of ivory that has been poached in Kenya and is displayed in the Nairobi National park March 3, 2015.
-https://phys.org/news/2015-03-botswana-elephant-deaths-anti-poaching-summit.html
-http://www.animal-rights-action.com/ivory-trade.html
-https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/01/ivory-trade-kills-people-20151865914791719.html
What makes the tusks so expensive?
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