CHINESE IVORY MARKET THREATENS AFRICAN ELEPHANTS

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07681316.htm

China seen as main market for illegal Africa ivory

21 Dec 2005 10:11:55 GMT

 

Source: Reuters

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By Ed Stoddard

 

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Africa's elephant herds are being targeted

by poachers feeding a booming market for ivory in emerging colossus China,

wildlife groups say.

 

" The major driving force for illegal ivory is demand in China which is

facilitated by unregulated markets, " said Jason Bell-Leask, the southern

African director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

 

Analysts say China's briskly growing economy is creating an insatiable

demand for ivory, mirroring its appetite for other African commodities such

as oil, coal and copper.

 

But while most African resources are powering Chinese industry, ivory is

sought as a luxury item by a new middle class that covets it as an ancient

symbol of wealth and status.

 

The white substance is used in ornate carvings and jewellery.

 

" The ivory market in China continues to be the most important influence (in

the illegal trade), " said a report last year prepared by the Elephant Trade

Information System.

 

The report looked at records from 75 countries or territories of 9,426

seizures of illicit elephant products from 1989 -- when a global ban was

imposed on trade in ivory to stem a slaughter of African elephants -- and

2004.

 

" The data show that the volume of ivory seized declined from 1989 to 1994,

then gradually increased from 1995 onwards, though never to levels prior to

1992, " it said.

 

" If Chinese demand is removed, the trend line is essentially flat from 1994

onwards, indicating that this single market alone accounts for the increase

in illegal trade in ivory in recent years, " it concluded.

 

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE

 

Researchers say anecdotal evidence and new data suggests the report only

scratched the surface of China's ivory market.

 

" Since the report was published I visited China and discovered that there

were far more seizures than had been reported, " said Tom Milliken, one of

the report's authors.

 

" The over 9,000 seizures that we looked at in the report included only 200

from China, though China was the final destination for many of the seizures

from other countries. But Shanghai Customs alone reported from January 2000

to December 31, 2004, that they had made 486 ivory seizures, " he told

Reuters.

 

Increasing seizures in illegal ivory almost certainly mean that elephants

are being killed for their tusks but there is no hard data on the poaching

of the pachyderms.

 

" There is no reliable estimate on illegal elephant killings but there are

lots of disturbing reports out of places like the Democratic Republic of

Congo which suggest it is on the increase to meet the new demand for ivory, "

said IFAW's Bell-Leask.

 

One recent study suggested that 4,000 or more elephants are being killed

each year for the illicit ivory market.

 

If the past is any guide, surging demand from a new market should push up

the price and entice even more poachers.

 

The price of ivory soared in the 1970s to meet fresh demand from newly

affluent Japan, triggering a wave of poaching.

 

" The price of ivory jumped from $5.50 per kilo in 1969 to $7.50 in 1970 ...

to $120 in 1987; and to $300 in 1989, " writes Martin Meredith in his book

" Africa's Elephant: A Biography " .

 

" Elephants in the bush were suddenly worth small fortunes, not just to

poachers but to a host of middlemen ... who settled over the trade like

flies, " he writes.

 

BLOOD-SOAKED MARKET

 

Hundreds of thousands of African elephants were slain for this lucrative but

blood-soaked market for two decades until 1989, when the global ban on ivory

sales was imposed. Countries such as Kenya were hard hit by ruthless and

heavily armed gangs of poachers prowling the bush with impunity.

 

Conservationists say the ban on the trade, which has seen only limited

easings for one-off auctions, halted the killings.

 

The World Conservation Union, a body whose estimates on animal populations

are among the most authoritative, says elephant numbers in east and southern

Africa are rising.

 

It said surveys showed elephant numbers in the two regions rose to 355,000

from 283,000 in the five years to 2002 -- a growth rate of about 4.5 percent

per year.

 

Conservationists worry the new demand for ivory could provoke another round

of slaughter.

 

And unlike other Asian states that provided the market in the past, China

has a growing presence in Africa -- which means middlemen to facilitate the

trade.

 

" The Japanese never established a commercial foothold in Africa for the

ivory trade. But China by contrast is mushrooming its presence in Africa, "

Milliken said.

 

" This gives China access to both legal and illegal commodities. There have

been numerous ivory seizures in Africa which involve Chinese nationals so we

know they are engaged in the trade as one feature of their presence on the

continent. "

 

He said the Chinese government was aware of the problem and was trying to

crack down on the trade -- but like all illegal activities that made lots of

cash, this was difficult.