Official Sale of Ivory: Will it Encourage Poaching?

Ivory has gone on sale in Namibia, when seven tonnes of ivory were put up for auction. This is the first of several auctions in which 108 tonnes of ivory is expected to be sold, and that is the equivalent to the ivory tusks of 10,000 dead elephants. Most of the buyers are from the Far East.

Wildlife groups claim that the sale of the ivory will encourage poaching. It was poaching which reduced the elephant population to about 600,000 from about 5,000,000 in the 1930’s. Poaching was banned in 1989, but before then the poachers were killing about 200 elephants per week.

It is feared that there is insufficient checks in importing countries for this ivory and that illegal ivory could be smuggled in with this official sale ivory. Also if it encourages a demand for ivory, there is the genuine worry that some people will take up poaching to provide the new ivory.
China and Japan are the two countries which have been approved as trading partners for this ivory. They are also the main markets for illegal ivory. Considering that elephant poaching has not been eliminated, many see the sale of ivory as highly irresponsible.

The authorized sales are to be held in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The elephant populations in these sates are relatively stable. But that does not mean that these elephant populations are safe.

The money from the sale is supposed to be going to elephant conservation programs to help the elephants. Part of the money will go to those communities who live at the edge of the elephant ranges as they do not benefit from tourism.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered species (CITES) felt that sufficient precautions were in place to prevent any criminality. They argued that a previous sale of ivory in 1999 did not boost poaching. It also brought in $5 million to help elephants in South Africa.
Several groups are involved in the monitoring of the sales and its transport and import. They feel that it can be done safely.

The real worry about this is that it can resurrect the poaching of elephant ivory. Southern Africa did not suffer as badly with poaching as did other parts of Africa. West Africa had a far more serious problem. It may be possible to monitor ivory sales in Southern African states, but can the same guarantee be made in West Africa, or any other part of Africa?

The number of dead elephants is rising as is the price of ivory. There may be a link, and there is some evidence to suggest that it is. Ivory auctions are pandering to the demand for ivory, if that source for ivory is cut off, and the demand for ivory increases, that will encourage poaching.

There has to be a solution which decreases the value of ivory, helps save the elephant and give some help to those communities who could turn to poaching.