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China Shuts Down Its Legal Ivory Trade
- sitkack 9y agoWhat is the legal Ivory trade?
- dis-sys 9y agoIt means ivory trading is still legal or the ban is intentionally not enforced, e.g. in Japan, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/20/japan-inaction-on-illegal-ivory-exports-threatens-chinese-ban-report-says https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/20/japan-in...
- sitkack 9y agoI just did a bit of research, it looks like the "legal" trade is a cover for the illegal one. I would argue that there is no legal ivory trade. > An estimated 20,000 African elephants are killed every year for their tusks, according to conservation groups. Last year, a record 40 tonnes of ivory were seized worldwide, triple the amount in 2007.
- pipio21 9y agoIt is ivory that comes from legal sources, like old stored ivory, ivory coming from naturally died animals(like in a zoo or in Africa reserves when animals die) and so on. Of course when there is a legal way, you have a window and so many ways to trick the system.
- esaym 9y agoProbably not good for the elephant. They make lousy pets and if no part of them is of any value, or legal, then what is the point of keeping them around when they are a hazard to people and their property? Thank about it. If it weren't for the many (legal) uses of cattle, they'd be headed towards extinction too.
- adamnemecek 9y agoThe current crisis started in 2008 when CITES allowed ivory sales. It was ok before that, when the sales were completely banned.
- onion2k 9y agoIn the case of elephants killed for ivory no one is "keeping them around". The only source is wild elephants that were killed legally until 2008 and since then illegally hunted. Without the ivory ban elephants would be poached until they're extinct. No one is keeping domestic elephants for the ivory.
- esaym 9y ago> No one is keeping domestic elephants for the ivory. Of course, since selling ivory is illegal. I've known people that had large acreage out in Texas that wanted to raise elephants just for the ivory. The reason illegal ivory is such a lucrative business is because it is illegal! This is why the prices are high. If the market was flooded with legal ivory, there'd be no black market.
- fellellor 9y agoAnswer: Maybe your property isn't all that important. I initially thought this was a troll account, and was very disappointed to find out otherwise. To see such arrogance and callousness come from someone who is ostensibly literate, maybe even educated, is very dismaying indeed.
- raverbashing 9y agoI wonder if there's research on synthetic Ivory
- foota 9y agoI remember reading here about a project to replace elephant horns with synthetic Ivory.
- onion2k 9y agoHuge amounts of research, starting about 150 years ago. Billiard balls used to be ivory but they were expensive. One manufacturer ran a competition to find an alternative which lead to the invention of cellulose and modern plastics. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billiard_ball https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billiard_ball
- raverbashing 9y agoAh yeah, some of those had an extra explosive capability
- ciconia 9y agoHere's one: http://elforyn.info/Materialen.htm http://elforyn.info/Materialen.htm
- wilgertvelinga 9y agoThat is great news for the elephants and the world. Does anybody know if a similar agreement exists on rhinoceros horn products?
- pipio21 9y agoI have seen the terrible effects China and Asia market had on elephants and specially rhinos in Africa. People in Africa earn very little money so poaching means you could be a hero in your village, buy cell phones, computers or cars, even if you risk your life. About cultural heritage, in the past Chinese artist used their hands to carve ivory. Today they use dental drills that are extremely fast carving in industrial scale. It is not sustainable. The only way to preserve Africa's animals are for the demand dissapearing: that is to make people ashamed for owning ivory instead of proud in China. This will take time, but today news is good news.