Guest guest Posted December 15, 2006 Report Share Posted December 15, 2006 http://www.ndtv.com/environment/wildlife.asp? fromtimeline=true & id=97903 & callid=1 & template=wildlife Illegal ivory trade rampant in Jaipur Harsha Kumari Singh Thursday, December 14, 2006 (Jaipur): The Jaipur police have seized 46 kg of ivory, worth more than Rs one crore in the international market, from ivory traders in the city. The tusks were probably obtained in Arunachal Pradesh from poachers and brought to the city. Jaipur is one of the biggest centres for carving ivory in the country, from where carved products are usually smuggled to countries like Japan, China. Jaipur Superintendent of Police Vishal Bansal said, " This could not be the only consignment that has come, there must be more ivory that has come through them. " Big pieces are also there and we have been told such big pieces cannot be extracted from a live animal. Whether they killed the elephant for the purpose of ivory will be part of the investigation. " Diminishing numbers A global ban on the trade in elephant tusks came into effect in 1989, but experts say 4,000 elephants are killed all over the world each year to meet the demand for ivory products. " The Asian elephant is an endangered species, if you see the figures in the last 10 years 8,000 elephants were killed. " Ivory poaching is definitely affecting the number of elephants in Asia, " said Dr Madhu Lal, Project-in-Charge, Elephant Family Project. Rapid urban growth is also destroying the habitat of the elephant, pushing it out of the safety of its forests into conflict with human populations thus making it more vulnerable to poaching. --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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