The Kitchen Dance Party Post!

Turn up your radios really loud, e is for elephants readers!  It's time for a kitchen dance party!

"Animal-rights activists are urging Thailand and China to take stiffer measures to curb the illegal ivory trade as an international coalition prepares to gather in Bangkok next month.

Meanwhile, Thailand and China say they are already taking strong steps to combat a trade that activists say has led to the death of 30,000 elephants a year.

Officials gathering for a March 3-14 meeting looking for more effective ways to curb illegal trade in wildlife parts represent 177 countries that have signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or Cites, which oversees global wildlife trade and agreed to ban the killing of elephants for ivory in 1989.

Despite the ban, elephants continue to be slaughtered at the rate of more than 2,500 a month, largely in Nigeria and the Congo, say officials from the World Wildlife Fund for Nature and global wildlife-trade monitoring agency Traffic. Their tusks are then shipped around the globe to be turned into such items as carved statues and trinkets, with Asia being the biggest destination.

The activists want officials to focus on China—which they say has overtaken Japan in the past couple of decades as the world's biggest consumer of ivory—and Thailand.

They also want trade sanctions imposed on Thailand, Nigeria and Congo for what they see as a failure to curb illegal trade in animal parts.

China says it is taking action through prosecution to try thwart illegal activity there. But WWF officials say demand has soared in China, where ivory products are seen as status symbols.

Meanwhile, activists say that Thailand, which allows the sale of ivory from elephants in the nation as long as they aren't killed, is being used by traffickers to launder their illegal ivory—a charge the Thai government denies.

"Elephants are disappearing from more and more places in Africa because the ivory trade has exploded out of control," said Carlos Drews, director of WWF's global species program.

The WWF has collected 400,000 signatures to give to Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to ban all sale of ivory, regardless of how it was obtained.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has joined in the cause, emailing supporters to ask them to sign the Thai petition.

"Illegal wildlife trade is the most urgent threat facing species like tigers, rhinos and elephants. These animals are being killed every day to feed an escalating demand for their body parts," Mr. DiCaprio said, according to a WWF statement released Monday.

Thai officials, however, denied the activists' claims. Elephants are revered in Thailand, which has about 2,500 wild elephants.

Thailand and Japan are allowed to sell ivory domestically legally under the Cites treaty.

"We are allowed to use ivory products from domesticated elephants that die naturally, but now we are accused of using laundered ivory," said Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, the deputy director of the Department of Natural Parks, Wildlife and Plants Conservation of Thailand. He noted that Thailand has made several seizures of illegal ivory.

WWF and Traffic are also pushing China to better enforce its rules regulating local ivory markets.

"In China, access to more disposable cash because of rising incomes is one of the main drivers of demand for ivory," said Kanitha Krishnasamy, Traffic's senior program officer.

However, the Chinese government has taken steps to curb illegal ivory trade. Last year, Cites awarded a "certificate of commendation" to the Chinese government agency tasked with wildlife law enforcement for work to stop the illegal trade of animal parts.

"The punishment on illegal smuggling and sales of ivory in China is one of the strictest in the world," China Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Monday. "China's unswerving efforts have yielded significant results. Such illegal activities have been declining in China in recent years.

The WWF and Traffic are urging countries to establish a mechanism to track global ivory stockpiles and ensure compulsory registration of all large-scale ivory seizures. They also want greater collaboration between enforcement officers across nations.

The activist groups pointed to one bright spot—Singapore. A new WWF-Traffic survey found that the proportion of retail outlets openly selling ivory products in Singapore decreased from 55% in 2002 to 19% last year. The variety of ivory products available also dropped significantly.

Yet Singapore remains a transit point in the illegal ivory trade. In January, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority and Singapore Customs seized 1,099 pieces of raw ivory tusks packed in 65 gunny sacks weighing close to two tons.

"Until you make someone pay the price for what they've done, who knows how long it [poaching and illegal trade of animal parts] will continue," said Traffic's Ms. Krishnasamy."

~Gaurav Raghuvanshi

Wall Street Journal Asia Edition

Thanks, Leonardo!  

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