On Wednesday millions of animal lovers around
the world will be raising a cheer for nature’s biggest land animal, the
elephant.
“At
a time when there is plenty to worry about with regards to elephants, World
Elephant Day on August 12 is one of those days that gives everyone a chance to
celebrate everything that is so wonderful about these incredible creatures and
what is being done to protect them,” says Jason Bell, Director: IFAW Southern Africa.
“While elephants are
under more threat from poaching and habitat loss than ever, we are seeing a
significant groundswell in the determination by governments, ngos and the
public to stop the criminals who kill elephants for their ivory, to end illegal
trade, and to ensure elephants live their lives free from conflict with humans.
“Elephants have
fascinated humans for thousands of years. They are scientifically known to be
immensely intelligent and the complex social structures of their family herds
closely resemble those of our own. The world would be a much poorer place
without vast herds of elephants roaming the African savannahs, or the shy
Forest elephants that make the central African jungles their own, or the Asian
elephants which have been honoured and deified for their beauty and
intelligence in some of the world’s oldest frescoes and friezes,” said Bell.
More soberly Bell
said that while countries around the world had destroyed over 60 tons of
illegal ivory in the past two years; media reports showed that law enforcers
had made at least 70 seizures totalling nearly 20 metric tonnes (22 imperial
tons) of contraband ivory since 1 January 2015.
Nearly 35,000
elephants die each year for their ivory and illegal trafficking of wildlife is
one of the world’s most lucrative criminal activities, valued at US$19-billion
annually. It ranks among damaging and dangerous global crimes such as
trafficking in drugs, people, oil and counterfeiting.
Bell said that part
of the fight against ivory and illegal wildlife trafficking was disrupting
potential markets. “To that end we have seen most recently the EU calling a
halt to the importation of elephant trophies among others meaning the import of
such items from a huge swath of African countries is now banned in Europe;
elsewhere major international airlines are refusing to transport trophies of
elephants and other creatures. These are all initiatives which frustrate criminals,”
said Bell.
This World Elephant
Day, 12 August, IFAW will post a tweet and a picture of an elephant every 15
minutes – 96 in all – on @action4ifaw to commemorate the daily toll of
elephants killed for their ivory. Please join us and share the hashtag
#every15minutes
As part of a
worldwide capacity building initiative IFAW trains law enforcement officers in
wildlife trafficking prevention in several countries throughout Africa, the
Middle East, Asia, Oceania, and the Caribbean. The organization has a
Memorandum of Understanding with Interpol, the first ever signed by Interpol’s
Environmental Crime Programme with an NGO. IFAW and Interpol have collaborated
on numerous projects since 2005 including Interpol’s largest-ever illegal ivory
trade operation in 2012.
The
IFAW report, Criminal Nature: The Global Security Implications of the Illegal Wildlife
Trade, documents the threat the illegal trade poses
to animals like elephants and rhinos, and also people. The learn more about the
illegal ivory trade, download IFAW’s digital magazine Unveiling
the Ivory Trade
No comments:
Post a Comment