Illegal ivory crush in Denver to send message to poachers, traffickers - U.S. News
Instead of Destroying it in some Symbolic Attempt at setting Bad People on a Good Path?...
The Poachers just have to Kill more Elephants now... Nice work.
peace..
In addition there will be heavier penalties for smuggling offences. Hong Kong is often called the centre of global wildlife trafficking where it is still legal to buy and sell ivory. "The government is very concerned about illegal poaching of elephants in Africa," Mr Leung said. "It will kick start [the] legislative procedures as soon as possible. "It will strengthen enforcement and take rigorous action against the smuggling and illegal trade in ivory."
It is still legal to buy and sell ivory in Hong Kong
Mr Leung did not say when the measures would be implemented. But his announcement was welcomed by wildlife groups. "History has shown that legal ivory sales only serve to provide a cover for illegal trade, which fuels the rampant poaching we see across Africa," WildAid Chief Executive Officer Peter Knights said. "Hong Kong has always been the epicentre of that trade, so we congratulate CY Leung and the government for this historic step.
"Coupled with a 50% drop in ivory prices in China over the last 18 months, the end of the crisis may be in sight." Hong Kong has some of the busiest container terminals and airports in the world and regularly seizes illegal shipments of ivory, which reached a record 8,041 kg in 2013.
Hong Kong to introduce measures to fight ivory poaching - BBC News
Typical gub'mint move, "let's destroy the supply in hopes of curbing the demand.", I swear I just heard all the Elephants in Africa and Asia let out a collective "What the **** are these assholes doing? might as well just kill ourselves now and save the poachers the trouble."Apparently 6 tons of Ivory is worth "Millions"... But I am certain this will put an end to Poaching.
peace...
the stupidity of the rigid machine known as "the government" is astonishing
Typical gub'mint move, "let's destroy the supply in hopes of curbing the demand.", I swear I just heard all the Elephants in Africa and Asia let out a collective "What the **** are these assholes doing? might as well just kill ourselves now and save the poachers the trouble."Apparently 6 tons of Ivory is worth "Millions"... But I am certain this will put an end to Poaching.
peace...
the stupidity of the rigid machine known as "the government" is astonishing
That's what China did, the licensed sellers just used their businesses to launder illegal ivory and even with the Chinese import ban being put in place it's just going to move the trade into the black market (and increase prices) won't affect the demand at all.Typical gub'mint move, "let's destroy the supply in hopes of curbing the demand.", I swear I just heard all the Elephants in Africa and Asia let out a collective "What the **** are these assholes doing? might as well just kill ourselves now and save the poachers the trouble."Apparently 6 tons of Ivory is worth "Millions"... But I am certain this will put an end to Poaching.
peace...
the stupidity of the rigid machine known as "the government" is astonishing
Outright bans are the "easy solution" that usually backfires whenever demand is not curtailed.
My main question is if Ivory has to be taken from younger elephants, or can it be harvested from older, non-breeding specimens, and if so, why not create government mandated outlets for sales of ivory, that would depress prices and hopefully reduce the profit margin for the poachers to the point where they move onto something else.
That's what China did, the licensed sellers just used their businesses to launder illegal ivory and even with the Chinese import ban being put in place it's just going to move the trade into the black market (and increase prices) won't affect the demand at all.Typical gub'mint move, "let's destroy the supply in hopes of curbing the demand.", I swear I just heard all the Elephants in Africa and Asia let out a collective "What the **** are these assholes doing? might as well just kill ourselves now and save the poachers the trouble."Apparently 6 tons of Ivory is worth "Millions"... But I am certain this will put an end to Poaching.
peace...
the stupidity of the rigid machine known as "the government" is astonishing
Outright bans are the "easy solution" that usually backfires whenever demand is not curtailed.
My main question is if Ivory has to be taken from younger elephants, or can it be harvested from older, non-breeding specimens, and if so, why not create government mandated outlets for sales of ivory, that would depress prices and hopefully reduce the profit margin for the poachers to the point where they move onto something else.
So unless we come up with a way to synthesize ivory for mass production or raise elephants on industrial scale farms I'm afraid that our Elephantidae friends days are numbered.
That's what China did, the licensed sellers just used their businesses to launder illegal ivory and even with the Chinese import ban being put in place it's just going to move the trade into the black market (and increase prices) won't affect the demand at all.Typical gub'mint move, "let's destroy the supply in hopes of curbing the demand.", I swear I just heard all the Elephants in Africa and Asia let out a collective "What the **** are these assholes doing? might as well just kill ourselves now and save the poachers the trouble."Apparently 6 tons of Ivory is worth "Millions"... But I am certain this will put an end to Poaching.
peace...
the stupidity of the rigid machine known as "the government" is astonishing
Outright bans are the "easy solution" that usually backfires whenever demand is not curtailed.
My main question is if Ivory has to be taken from younger elephants, or can it be harvested from older, non-breeding specimens, and if so, why not create government mandated outlets for sales of ivory, that would depress prices and hopefully reduce the profit margin for the poachers to the point where they move onto something else.
So unless we come up with a way to synthesize ivory for mass production or raise elephants on industrial scale farms I'm afraid that our Elephantidae friends days are numbered.
As their numbers get smaller, protecting them gets easier from a logistical standpoint, of course, less elephants just makes the ivory that much more valuable.
Synthesis would help, but if people keep demanding the "real thing" then the black market will persist.
That's what China did, the licensed sellers just used their businesses to launder illegal ivory and even with the Chinese import ban being put in place it's just going to move the trade into the black market (and increase prices) won't affect the demand at all.
So unless we come up with a way to synthesize ivory for mass production or raise elephants on industrial scale farms I'm afraid that our Elephantidae friends days are numbered.
As their numbers get smaller, protecting them gets easier from a logistical standpoint, of course, less elephants just makes the ivory that much more valuable.
Synthesis would help, but if people keep demanding the "real thing" then the black market will persist.
Was thinking of some off the wall ways of trying to fix this.
1. Change laws to make possession of new unregistered ivory punishable by confiscation of all a person's ivory (people who collect this stuff tend to have a lot of it. Take the confiscated ivory and sell it, to registered owners who cannot transfer it legally without clearance). Take the sale money and use it for conservation (i.e. killing poachers with extreme prejudice).
2. Offer free ivory registration to current owners, which would allow them to register their owned ivory, AND allow them to participate in auctions of confiscated ivory.
3. This is the most off the wall one. Try to figure out a way to add a "trace" to the diets of living elephants that can't be removed from the ivory. Get caught with trace ivory? See #1.
Comments welcome.
The Kenyans basically do, still doesn't help much, take one out, 3 more pop up to take his place. It's pretty much like the drug trade in Mexico from what I've read about it, very sad situation.
That's what China did, the licensed sellers just used their businesses to launder illegal ivory and even with the Chinese import ban being put in place it's just going to move the trade into the black market (and increase prices) won't affect the demand at all.
So unless we come up with a way to synthesize ivory for mass production or raise elephants on industrial scale farms I'm afraid that our Elephantidae friends days are numbered.
As their numbers get smaller, protecting them gets easier from a logistical standpoint, of course, less elephants just makes the ivory that much more valuable.
Synthesis would help, but if people keep demanding the "real thing" then the black market will persist.
Was thinking of some off the wall ways of trying to fix this.
1. Change laws to make possession of new unregistered ivory punishable by confiscation of all a person's ivory (people who collect this stuff tend to have a lot of it. Take the confiscated ivory and sell it, to registered owners who cannot transfer it legally without clearance). Take the sale money and use it for conservation (i.e. killing poachers with extreme prejudice).
2. Offer free ivory registration to current owners, which would allow them to register their owned ivory, AND allow them to participate in auctions of confiscated ivory.
3. This is the most off the wall one. Try to figure out a way to add a "trace" to the diets of living elephants that can't be removed from the ivory. Get caught with trace ivory? See #1.
Comments welcome.
Personally I don't think passing new laws is going to help since even in Countries with existing tough laws (e.g. Kenya, Tanzania) my understanding is that poachers are only getting convicted like 10% of the time (if that) due to corruption and lack of evidence, not to mention that those that are already willing to break laws aren't usually deterred much by new laws . Maybe increasing resources for enforcement but again you have the problem of corruption because the business is so lucrative that criminals can buy their way out of trouble.
IMHO Traceable ivory is an idea worth exploring since it offers a way to nail the distributors of illegally obtained ivory and I think your idea of registration and auctions has merits as well.
That being said, I still think coming up with mass produced synthesized ivory that's identical to the real thing is the ticket, with that you can destroy the poachers market by flooding the market with supply.
