Table of Contents
Why was ivory valuable for trade?
It has no intrinsic value, but its cultural uses make ivory highly prized. In Africa, it has been a status symbol for millennia because it comes from elephants, a highly respected animal, and because it is fairly easy to carve into works of art.
Why do people in China want to buy ivory?
“It’s a collector’s mentality, like high-end art.” People also have been known to use ivory to bribe government officials, because it is rarer than money or gold. Some seek out elephant ivory products for spiritual reasons, believing a bangle or pendant can protect its wearer from harm or bad luck.
What was ivory used for in Europe?
Rapid prosperity in both Europe and North America had led to an increase in demand for ivory to make piano keys, billiard balls, knife handles, and ornamental carvings.
What was ivory used for?
Before plastics were introduced, ivory had many ornamental and practical uses, mainly because of the white color it presents when processed. It was formerly used to make cutlery handles, billiard balls, piano keys, Scottish bagpipes, buttons and a wide range of ornamental items.
What countries allow ivory trade?
That means that the consumers with the means to travel also have the most desire to keep buying elephant ivory. And their travel gives them access to ivory since some of the destinations most popular with Chinese travelers — Thailand, Laos, Hong Kong, Japan, and Vietnam — still have elephant ivory on the shelves.
How does ivory trade affect the environment?
In conclusion, the desire of people to consume ivory products is leading to the poaching of elephants, which finally causes the species to become extinct. Consequently, it gives rise to the devastating decline of forests and harming herbivorous animals as elephants helps to maintain grassland.
How is ivory obtained?
Ivory is the hard, white material from the tusks and teeth of elephants, hippopotami, walruses, warthogs, sperm whales and narwhals, as well as now extinct mammoths and mastodons. This resource focuses specifically on elephant ivory, which is the most popular and highly valued of all ivories.
Who is involved in ivory trade?
The ivory trade is the commercial, often illegal trade in the ivory tusks of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, mammoth, and most commonly, African and Asian elephants. Ivory has been traded for hundreds of years by people in Africa and Asia, resulting in restrictions and bans.
Is ivory trade legal in China?
Two years ago this month, China took the monumental step of banning elephant ivory trade within the country. Dec. 31, 2017 was the last day it was legal to buy or sell ivory there. That means that the consumers with the means to travel also have the most desire to keep buying elephant ivory.
Why is ivory trade illegal?
The illegal elephant ivory trade is driven by transnational organized crime syndicates. They devastate elephant populations and undermine the rule of law, destabilize governments, and promote corruption. Rangers and local communities are often caught in the crossfire of wildlife crime.
Why is ivory an issue?
Ivory, which comes from elephant tusks, is considered very valuable. Because of the high price of ivory, poachers illegally kill elephants so that they can take their tusks and sell them. Tens of thousands of elephants are killed each year for their tusks, and as a result, elephant populations have declined rapidly.