Politics Pivotal to Protecting Elephants in Africa

Many people presume that there has been a complete ban on ivory in the United States; that it is other countries that are to blame for Africa’s elephants being poached so intensively that they are experiencing a population crisis. Yes, since 1990, the United States and almost all other countries in the world, have agreed to a ban on the international trade in elephant ivory, signed under United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). But, most countries, including the two largest ivory markets in the world, the United States and China, did not ban domestic trade in ivory.

Federal laws pertaining to elephants and rhinos are limited to authorize federal authorities to regulate import, export, and interstate sales only. Thus the domestic markets for ivory in the United States have continued to flourish and create the demand for illegal importation of ivory from newly-poached elephants. We may too easily place the blame for demand in ivory on China. Certainly, China’s activities need to change radically and quickly on behalf of elephants. But most Americans would be shocked to learn that in the United States, about one-third of ivory on sale was recently attributed to recently poached elephants. And there seems to be plenty of ivory for sale in America.

Starting with the beautiful state of Hawaii, research of online ivory sales there in 2013 suggests Hawaii has the largest ivory market in the United States with the majority of items lacking any documentation as to origin or legal status. Perhaps more startling is that investigations revealed that 89% of ivory items for sale in Hawaii were of unknown or likely illegal origin. Also, according to recent investigations, Hawaii is the third largest retailer of ivory in the nation, only behind New York and New Jersey. Fortunately, New York and New Jersey enacted bills in 2014 prohibiting the sale of ivory in these states. 2015 proves to be a big year for ivory in the Pacific U.S states. California, closely behind Hawaii in ivory sales, Washington, and several other states, have introduced (or are preparing) bills to strengthen their existing prohibition on the sale of ivory!

In addition to the extraordinary cruelty of killing, injuring, and orphaning elephants and rhinos in the ivory trade, African elephants could become extinct if the current skyrocketing poaching rate persists. Profits from the ivory trade are so lucrative that, apparently, international criminal syndicates and terrorist networks, such as Somalia-based Al-Qaeda affiliate, Al-Shabaab, have turned to elephant poaching to fund their nefarious activities which not only result in dead elephants but also weaken local governance, threaten community livelihood, and undermine U.S. security interests in the region. Despite this, ivory sellers are out in full force opposing any legislation. And the National Rifle Association continues to oppose measures to stop the illegal ivory trade and has even urged members to contact legislators.

Please stay tuned, as in these important subsequent weeks, we will go into more detail about ongoing legislation, events, and what you can do to support increased protection for elephants and rhinos. Also, even if you’ve signed up for email alerts, please make sure that you have provided us with your location – we will be sending regional alerts for bills and other measures that require local support to those locations.

This is ramping up to be a particularly vital year for elephants and rhinos. Thank you, for helping us to be there for them as we work to increase our efforts to meet their growing and vital needs.