Ivory, Ivory, Get Your Ivory Here!

Ivory is beautiful, no doubt about it. Once carved and polished, it creates a substance that can be admired and cherished for generations, from jewelry to knife handles to. . .

. . . mobile phones???

Seriously, see the photo. For a mere 180,000 Chinese yuan (US $22,500) you too could own a hand carved ivory mobile phone. But hurry, only 4 left in the artist's inventory! (See Photo 1.)

The ivory ban was in effect for 10 years, since 1997. The ban was needed because poachers were quickly driving African elephant populations toward a sure extinction. Poachers cost Kenya 85% of its elephants. In the Sudan, 30% were killed. Across the African continent, more than 300,000 elephants were killed between 1986 and 1989, according to CITES (the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).

By way of comparison, Kenya lost about 3,500 elephants in the early 1980s, but only 50 in 1993. The ban worked so well that the international demand for ivory dried up and the lucrative trade market was beginning to collapse.

But in a recent meeting in Geneva, the group known as the ZNB group (which includes Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana) petitioned for the lifting of the ban. Lifting the ban would allow them to sell off their stockpiles of more than 60 tons of ivory. There are no safeguards in place to ensure that the only ivory being sold is from the stockpiles, so the door is wide open for poachers once again.

In the February 26, 2007 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this problem is addressed by Samuel Wasser, director of the University of Washington Center for Conservation Biology. According to Wasser, "Elephants are majestic animals and are not trivial to the ecosystem. They are a keystone species and taking them out significantly alters the habitat. It has ripple effects on lots of different species."

For example, for the year ending August 2006, authorities confiscated nearly 24 tons (23,400 kilograms) of contraband ivory. It should be noted, however, that it is a commonly-held belief that only about 10% of all poached ivory is detected. This brings the amount closer to 234,000 kilograms or 240 tons. This figure represents about 5% of Africa's total population, and means that more than 23,000 elephants were likely killed for that amount of ivory.

China and Japan represent major driving forces behind the black-market for ivory. In both countries, ivory is carved to create seals, used to authenticate letters, business documents, and contracts. In modern Japan, most people have multiple seals, called hanko. The men, especially those in positions of power, have larger seals than women and subordinates. It is a sign of rank and prestige. Banking and real estate deals require more secure, specific seals, while seals for everyday tasks are bought "off-the-shelf." (See Photo 2.)

(Because of the high demand, prices have sky-rocketed and the trade now involves elements of organized crime. A kilogram of ivory sold on the black market for $100 in 1989, but by 2006 the price had risen to $750 per kilogram. See Photo 3.)

Money, of course, is at the root of it all. Countries like Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana are poor countries in need of the funds the ivory can provide. All three countries have promised to channel money back into conservation programs for the elephants. But the reality is that these countries are so poor, they can't afford to police the poachers. The contraband ivory is fairly easily sifted into the markets, along with the stockpiled ivory.

When the 1989 ban went into effect, western nations contributed heavily to policing efforts, and over the following four years poaching was nearly eliminated completely. But the success of the program left officials thinking the poaching problem was forever solved, and nations began withdrawing funding.

Wasser and his scientist colleagues would like to see the ban on selling ivory reconsidered, along with education and funding for wildlife conservation given to impoverished countries struggling with this issue. Education efforts should also be directed to engage the sympathies of the Asian people and convince them not to use ivory.

There are viable alternatives, such as tusks from other animals, which are shed (not taken from alive animals), fossils, tagua nuts (vegetable ivory). And then of course, there's wood, ceramics, rubber, plastic, etc.

I am all in favor of recycling; go ahead, use the tusks of animals after they have died. But to kill them just to sell and carve their tusks? That makes me sick and sad.