This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

Canada has an ivory trade? This might seem surprising, but it’s true. In fact, at the last International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress, governments across the globe were called on to close their legal domestic ivory markets as a matter of urgency. Surprisingly, Canada was one of four countries that voted in opposition to this global effort. We must urge Canada to take a stand for elephants and join in the unprecedented global fight to ban ivory!

In Defense of Animals has signed on to a letter urging the Canadian government to end its domestic ivory trade along with 95 other signatories that include organizations, politicians, scientists and animal rights activists from around the world. Elephanatics, a Canadian based elephant advocacy organization initiated this action, along with a public petition to the Canadian government which has garnered more than 135,000 signatures urging Canada to ban its role in the trade. 

The hesitation from Canada to take a stand for elephants may be in part because the hunting of narwhal (a species of toothed whale), and walrus by the native Inuit people for subsistence purposes is legal in Canada. This is why Elephanatics and the other organizations involved are asking the government to specifically address and ban elephant ivory, which is easily distinguishable from narwhal and walrus ivory.

What You Can Do

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.