A Crush Heard Round the World: A Global Front Against the Ivory Trade Takes Hold
The ivory trade between Africa and Asia has a long and brutal history. Ivory in Asia—much like the diamond everywhere—is now a status symbol, and signifier of extreme wealth, used most commonly to carve buttons, combs, piano keys, and other trivial objects. A pound of ivory in China can go for as much as $1,000 on the black market, which plays right into the pockets of the China's rising rings organized crime. Even more alarming: although it is thought that up to 70% of illegally obtained African Ivory is imported to China, 70% of Chinese polled in a recent survey by the International Federation for Animal Welfare (IFAW) were not aware that ivory came from dead elephants.
The seizure of illegally extracted elephant tusks reached an all-time high in 2011, with ivory from an estimated 4,000 plus animals flooding the market worldwide (though predominantly in Asia). It is estimated that nearly 8% of the planet's elephants are poached every year, putting African elephants on the verge of endangerment. (And with only about 20,000 left, Asian Elephants are now officially considered an endangered species). Poachers will go to extreme lengths to remove elephant tusks, either by tranquilzing grown elephants, or using machine guns or chemicals like cyanide to murder dozens—sometimes entire families—at a time. If the animals are not killed immediately, after mutilation an elephant’s chance of survival is nearly non-existent.
In recent months, the U.S. government has gotten involved in a growing global movement against the trade by supporting a number of public "ivory crushes." Just last November, in Colorado, over 6 tons of illicit ivory—estimated to have been taken from at least 2,000 fallen elephants and seized over the past 25 years—were pulverized by an industrial rock-crushing device on loan from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Not only was this event a symbol of the government’s dedication to combatting the ivory trade, it was also an opportunity to bring together a community of like-minded conservationists and government officials to create a dialogue and, hopefully, increase public awareness around the urgency of the issue.
Hope is not completely lost in Asia. In June 2013, the Philippine government crushed and burned over 5 tons of smuggled ivory worth an estimated $10 million, and even China hosted its first crush early this year—an unprecendented display of comradery with anti-poaching activists in other parts of the world, and a signal that governments in Asia are ready to get on board with the message for consumers everywhere: The demand for ivory is destroying an entire popularion of animals. And the best way to stop it? Simply stop buying.
