Illegal sale of ivory out of control in the UK and China

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

 

 

Here are our two latest news releases. They both outline the growing problem

of the illegal ivory trade, the first in the UK with the release of our

investigative report, 'Elephants on the High Street' and the second in China

with the seizure of 1,300 lbs. of ivory in Guangdong province earlier this

week. Let me know if I can assist you further.

 

 

 

Thank you,

 

 

 

Kerry

 

 

 

Kerry Branon

Communications Coordinator

75 Attucks Lane

Hyannis, MA 02601

508-744-2068

kbranon <kbranon

www.ifaw.org <http://www.ifaw.org>

 

 

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Contact: Gill Sanders (IFAW) - Tel: 44 (207) 587-6700; Email:

<gsanders gsanders<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =

" urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office " />

 

Chris Cutter (IFAW) - Tel: (508) 744-2066; Email: ccutter

 

 

 

Illegal sale of ivory out of control in the UK

 

 

 

 

 

(London, March 11, 2004) A report released today by the International Fund

for Animal Welfare (IFAW) reveals the huge amount of ivory being sold

illegally on high streets across the UK - just days before government

officials fly to Geneva to discuss re-opening the international ivory trade.

 

 

 

 

Elephants are still endangered in the wild - especially in Asia and the

forests of West and Central Africa. UK Government officials will attend a

meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

(CITES) March 15-19 in Geneva. Up for discussion will be the sale of 60

tonnes of stockpiled ivory from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and a

vote may be taken to allow the sale any time after May 2004. IFAW believes

stockpile sales would lead to a surge in the killing of wild elephants, by

providing cover for illegal ivory trade.

 

 

 

In the UK IFAW investigators discovered thousands of ivory items on sale

illegally in antiques shops and markets, and on Internet auction sites.

Under UK law, only ivory carvings dated before 1947 can be sold, and these

must be sold with proof of age documents. Not a single trader asked by our

investigators had any papers to prove the age of the items for sale. They

all relied on their own 'expert' knowledge, despite the fact that ivory is

very difficult to age.

 

 

 

Worse still, many sellers offered to write receipts giving a supposed date

of manufacture of more than 100 years ago. One stall-holder actually told

undercover investigators that there were many new ivory items coming into

the country form China because " it's so easy to smuggle past customs " .

 

 

 

The report 'Elephants on the High Street', is the result of an eight-week

investigation by IFAW, and shows that most ivory in the UK is being sold

illegally. This provides cover for new, poached ivory to be laundered onto

the market.

 

 

 

Investigators found that Portobello Road, the world's biggest antiques

market and a top tourist attraction, was awash with dubious ivory products -

none were being offered for sale with proper papers and some were probably

not even ivory. It was a similar tale across the UK from Bournemouth to

Edinburgh in the six towns and cities IFAW's team visited.

 

 

 

IFAW's investigation found huge amounts of ivory being sold into and out of

the UK via eBay and other Internet auction sites using postal and courier

services. International trade in ivory has been banned since 1989 and

deliberate smuggling carries a maximum sentence of seven years in jail in

the UK.

 

 

 

IFAW found tens of thousands of ivory items on eBay during its

investigation. Scores of sellers in Australia, Canada, China, the UK and

the US offered to sell ivory to IFAW investigators illegally. In some cases

this was due to ignorance of the law. In others, sellers were happy to

forge documents or evade the law in other ways. Again many items offered

for sale were clearly not antiques and none of those claiming to be

'vintage' or 'antique' had any supporting documentation to prove their age.

 

 

 

 

Phyllis Campbell-McRae, UK Director of IFAW, said: " There will be an open

season on elephants in many places if the stockpile sale is given the

go-head. I urge the British Government to think of the many elephants that

will die from poacher's bullets, putting this endangered species at even

more risk. There must be no new trade.

 

 

 

" Police investigations have already found evidence of new ivory being carved

to look 'antique' and then being offered for sale through UK antiques

outlets. Our investigations have gone further - and the results are

extremely worrying. Our investigators were offered a huge range of dubious

ivory, including new, raw ivory, both over the Internet and in person.

Hardly any of the traders we interviewed had any idea of the age of the

ivory they were selling, or of the laws relating to its sale. Among those

who did understand the law, many offered to break it or actively encouraged

us to do so. "

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the UK has been identified as the third biggest source of illegal

ivory entering the United States - one of 10 countries singled out by CITES

as having uncontrolled domestic ivory trades likely to provoke elephant

poaching.

 

 

 

Campbell-McRae added: " IFAW works closely with the police and customs, we

know the hard work and commitment they devote to this very difficult

challenge. But our report shows how difficult it is to control the ivory

trade here despite the fact that the UK has some of the world's best

enforcement systems to control wildlife trade. Countries with much fewer

resources will find it even harder. And countries with wild elephant

populations will face huge challenges in stemming the poaching and ivory

smuggling which we believe will result from any re-opening of the ivory

trade. "

 

 

 

Dr Richard Leakey, prominent conservationist and former head of the Kenyan

Wildlife Service, said: " I would urge the Government to think carefully

about the full implications before supporting the stockpile sales. It would

be a truly ironic tragedy if a decision made by British politicians led to

elephants in Kenya or anywhere else being gunned down for ivory trinkets to

be sold in the United Kingdom. "

 

 

 

Andy Fisher, head of Scotland Yard's Wildlife Crime Unit, said that any

re-opening of the ivory trade or relaxation in protection for elephants made

it more difficult for police to gather good enough evidence to pursue cases.

 

 

 

 

About IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)

 

IFAW (The International Fund for Animal Welfare) was founded in 1969 to end

the Canadian baby seal hunt. Over the next two decades, IFAW won many hard

fought victories for seals, including the 1982 European Union ban of

whitecoat and blueback sealskins. These aggregate victories stopped the baby

seal hunt in the 1980s - arguably the most visible and important that has

ever occurred in the animal welfare movement. Two years ago the seal hunt

returned and it is bigger than ever. To learn how to help IFAW protect

seals, please visit www.ifaw.org <http://www.ifaw.org/>

 

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Notes to Editors:

 

1. In the 1980s, Africa lost half of its elephants to poaching, with

numbers plummeting from 1.3 million to 625,000 in just nine years. Despite a

legal quota system for ivory sales, it is estimated that up to 90% of the

ivory in trade actually came from illegally killed elephants.

 

2 The CITES 2002 agreement stipulated that 60 tonnes of ivory from

registered government owned stockpiles in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa

was allowed to be sold and must not include any poached ivory or ivory from

an unknown origin. The sales cannot go ahead until information on elephant

population numbers and incidence of illegal killing has been provided. In

addition, all proceeds from the sale must be ploughed back into elephant

conservation or community projects in areas with elephant populations. Sales

can only go to verified buyers. So far only Japan has come forward as a

prospective buyer.

 

 

 

· For more information, pictures, or to arrange interviews, please

contact the IFAW press office

 

Greg Hayman IFAW - 0207 587 6708 or 07793 198864

 

Gill Sanders, IFAW - 0207 587 6714 or 07801 613524

 

Rosa Hill, IFAW - 0207 587 6715 or 07801 613530

 

· To download the executive summary or the full report, or for more

information about IFAW's work to protect elephants, please visit

www.ifaw.org and click on the UK flag at the top of the page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Contact:Jeff He (IFAW) - China Tel: 86-10-64643599 or Fax: 86-10-64643522

<jhe jhe

 

Chris Cutter, (IFAW) - U.S. Tel: (508) 744-2066, <ccutter

ccutter

 

 

 

IFAW Commends China's Ivory Seizure, Illegal Trade Continues

 

 

 

(Beijing, China - 11 March 2004) - Earlier this week, the Chinese government

confiscated over 1,300 pounds of ivory from seven dealers in southern China.

IFAW (the International Fund for Animal Welfare - www.ifaw.org) applauded

the government for its prompt response to raid the illegal market, but

remains deeply concerned about the rampant illegal ivory trade situation

worldwide.

 

 

 

Dr. Meng Xianlin, Deputy Director of CITES China Management Authority, said,

" The crackdown on the illegal ivory is an active response to public

tip-offs, and the result indicates illegal markets still exists to some

degree in China. " IFAW's China Country Director Dr. Zhang Li said, " This

effort is a showcase of strengthened law enforcement in China, however it

also means that there is a long way to go before a complete ban can be

installed. No trade in ivory and its products should be allowed in any part

of the world, or wild elephants will face extinction forever. "

 

 

 

Dr Zhang said, " Everyday two elephants are poached for their tusks in some

part of the world. Bull Asian elephants are killed every year in China

although they are highly endangered with only 250 remaining in the wild. "

Increased ivory poaching, loss of natural habitat due to human agriculture

activities and the bushmeat trade worldwide have threatened elephants. From

the late 1970's, the African elephant population dropped from 1.3 million to

only 300,000 in 1995.

 

 

 

At the 2002 CITES Conference of the Parties (Cop12), a decision was made to

allow a conditional one-off sale of 60 tons of stockpile ivory from three

African countries. IFAW is concerned that without well-defined conditions,

adequate legislation and monitoring mechanisms the sale reopening will

dramatically stimulate poaching in the wild. In fact, seven elephants have

been slaughtered in Uganda's Murchison Falls National Park in the past year,

the worst poaching case in Uganda in 20 years.

 

 

 

According to Elephant Trading Information System analysis, China is on the

top of the list of destination countries for smuggled ivory. In the chain of

global ivory trade, China plays a vital role in deciding the fate of

elephants in Africa and Asia. " China has a huge international responsibility

in the global conservation of elephants, " Dr. Zhang said. IFAW appeals to

the Chinese authorities to strengthen their enforcement efforts and to lay

stricter punishment for ivory smuggling.

 

 

 

 

 

About IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)

 

IFAW (The International Fund for Animal Welfare) was founded in 1969 to end

the Canadian baby seal hunt. Over the next two decades, IFAW won many hard

fought victories for seals, including the 1982 European Union ban of

whitecoat and blueback sealskins. These aggregate victories stopped the baby

seal hunt in the 1980s - arguably the most visible and important that has

ever occurred in the animal welfare movement. Two years ago the seal hunt

returned and it is bigger than ever. To learn how to help IFAW protect

seals, please visit www.ifaw.org <http://www.ifaw.org/>

 

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