African, Asian states agree measures to curb illegal ivory trade
GABORONE Tue Dec 3, 2013 4:08pm EST
1
Comments<http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/03/us-botswana-elephants-idUSBRE9B215520131203#comments>
-
- inShare
- Share this
-
- Email
- Print
Confiscated elephant ivory tusks are pictured on the floor of the
rescue center at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife center in Quezon city,
metro Manila June 14, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco
(Reuters) - African and Asian countries agreed measures on Tuesday to curb
the illegal trade in ivory which threatens to decimate Africa's elephant
population, organizers of a conservation conference said.
The "African Elephant Summit" issued a list of measures that governments
had agreed to, including setting tough sentences for poaching and
trafficking, better monitoring of elephant numbers and illegal trade in
ivory, and more cross-border cooperation.
"Our window of opportunity to tackle the growing illegal ivory trade is
closing and if we do not stem the tide, future generations will condemn our
unwillingness to act," said Ian Khama, president of Botswana, which hosted
the conference convened by the International Union for Conservation of
Nature.
Poaching has risen in recent years across sub-Saharan Africa, where armed
criminal gangs kill elephants for tusks that are often shipped to Asia for
use in ornaments.
Ivory from Gabon, Kenya, Niger and Zambia is often trafficked to
China<http://www.reuters.com/places/china>and Thailand via Vietnam,
the Philippines and Malaysia.
Eighteen large scale seizures involving more than 40 metric tons (44.092
tons) of ivory have been recorded so far this year, representing the
greatest quantity of ivory seized in the last 25 years.
The African elephant, the world's largest terrestrial mammal, is listed as
vulnerable on the IUCN "red list" of threatened species, with a population
estimated at around 500,000 animals.
(Writing by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"South Sudan Info - The Kob" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14opvc9yBiuUEAhiLMiy5OVZMRAXJgVyVzMmCGhpckZPjFQ%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
