Greg's Corner

Online retailers vow to stop illegal wildlife trade

Many online retailers, including giants Ebay and Etsy, have banded together, and have vowed to stop the illegal sale of wildlife parts on their sites. This new initiative was announced this past Friday which coincided with World Elephant day and is a collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and TRAFFIC.

Believe it or not the trade of illegal ivory from elephant tusks is still happening. Elephants are still being poached and slaughtered for their tusks to make jewelry, carvings and other items. While most of the demand for ivory comes from eastern Asia, the United States is also one of the top countries where people buy ivory.

There is an international ban against ivory trading that was instituted in 1989. However, in 2007, countries that had stockpiles of seized ivory were allowed to sell their ivory inventory. This allowed for illegal ivory to work its way back into the international market. Unfortunately there are a number of ivory consumers who are unaware that ivory can only be harnessed from the elephants by killing them.

The suppliers of illegal ivory will only be shut down when there is no longer any demand and hopefully this initiative goes a long way in helping to achieve that goal.