A while back I saw a picture of officials in Africa burning a big, BIG; pile of ivory tusks. They had been seized from poachers, and those who deal with them. I normally just shrug off such a picture and move on, but this really made me feel angry. Don't get me wrong, poachers are scum, you can play in the children starving at home tune, but, that's a whole 'nuther thread. What angered me was the waste. What was done had been done, burning the ivory keeps it from the market that drives the business. But the waste. It seemed to me that since they had denied the product to the bad guys, why not sell it to the good guys? Use the monies gained to pay for more wardens and better control of the existing herd. I've heard of one country over there who provide hunts, very limited and very expensive. Use the money for the elephants and were doing very well with a healthy growing herd.
I'm sure someone will come along and point out what I'm missing, I know it can't be that easy. But burning a pile of ivory, to me, someone who used to hunt and still will when I can again; seems like a crappy way to honor the dead who gave up their tusks.