An Ivory Crush in China Turns the Tide

An outstanding development in the fight against the illegal ivory trade: after years of not much progress, China held its first ever ivory crush in Guangdong province, publically destroying over 6 tons of ivory carvings, trinkets, ornaments and tusks.  While ivory crushes are common in the U.S. and Europe, until now efforts by conservation and anti-poaching activists in China have been largely thwarted by an insatiable demand for ivory among the country’s growing middle class.  The crush in Guangdong has now changed that, almost overnight.

The event was preceded by a story published a month earlier on the front page of Southern Weekly, one of the most influential news publications in China.  Entitled “Blood Ivory: Behind the Largest Ivory Smuggling Cases in China,” the piece named Chinese consumption of ivory as the main driver behind the alarming increase in elephant poaching in the past decade­­—more than 35,000 elephants were slaughtered for their tusks in 2012 alone, an overwhelming majority in Africa—and also directly established links between the ivory trade and rebel and terrorist groups in Africa.  The Southern Weekly story went viral almost immediately, garnering more than 10 million comments on Weibo, China’s leading social media platform used predominantly by the connected urban professional class. (In other words, affluent consumers—the very group that is driving the demand for ivory). 

The news also likely played a large role in spurring public and government support for the crush, which was broadcast on state television, sending a clear message that the Chinese government will be stepping up its efforts to punish those involved in the illegal smuggling, sale and purchase of ivory.   While only the first step, it is long overdue, and clearly one in the right direction.