Thread: Preban ivory is my favorite material for scales

A while back, I saw a photo of a huge pile of confiscated ivory being burned. That made me sad. I'm sure that there is some reason for not doing it, but, why couldn't the government sell the ivory and use the proceeds to pay for taking care of the living elephants? Burning it, to me, seemed to be a final insult to the dead elephants. It didn't bring them back, it didn't send a message to any poachers, it just made an ugly fire. I don't know, it just seemed really messed up.

Originally Posted by donv

A while back, I saw a photo of a huge pile of confiscated ivory being burned. That made me sad. I'm sure that there is some reason for not doing it, but, why couldn't the government sell the ivory and use the proceeds to pay for taking care of the living elephants? Burning it, to me, seemed to be a final insult to the dead elephants. It didn't bring them back, it didn't send a message to any poachers, it just made an ugly fire. I don't know, it just seemed really messed up.

I think the rationale (or at least part of it) is that doing anything other than utterly destroying the ivory - i.e. releasing it somehow into the market - would serve to further encourage or embolden the trade, or simply play into the system that creates demand for the ivory which leads to poaching, and the whole cycle continues.

Any way you look at it though, it's a sad situation. Ivory is a beautiful material but the price is (for me) too high and I want nothing to do with it. But that's just me.

Originally Posted by Cangooner

I think the rationale (or at least part of it) is that doing anything other than utterly destroying the ivory - i.e. releasing it somehow into the market - would serve to further encourage or embolden the trade, or simply play into the system that creates demand for the ivory which leads to poaching, and the whole cycle continues.

That's exactly it.

Release it to market, and the very next thing, you'll just have the poachers bribe a couple of officials who 'confiscate' poached ivory. The poachers get their cut via a shady company for consulting services, the officals get their bribes, the customers get their ivory, and the elephants just get the shaft.

Seriously. Destroying it is the only good solution.

I am not so sure about the benefits of burning confiscated ivory. After all how long have they been doing that in the drug war WRT drugs and how successful has that been? Reducing the supply of anything just serves to increase it's value regardless if it is legal to have or not, further increasing the incentive to poach.

I think a better approach would be to try and eliminate the poverty that makes the poachers see their profession as a viable and in a lot of cases only way to make a decent living. At the other end, to also change the long historical use of ivory in certain cultures. Both of those are extremely difficult to do and there seems to be an almost complete lack of will to even try.

Burning poached ivory is a zero sum game and a band aid solution ay best. It is hard to come up with a workable plan to manage a renewable natural resource when so much money is involved and demand so high.

Bob

I have only used preban. There is still alot of it in the US. I have never poached any animal and would never trade in.
Difficult. I finally reasoned that it was here before the ban was in place thus legal. If no one does anything with it then it will never be used.
Elephant numbers are soaring. I am very glad for that. There is an annual sale of legal ivory, most goes to Japan

Soaring?

African Forest Elephant Population Plummeting - ScienceNOW

I agree with Bob that the key here is to address the forces that drive poaching. Without that, any efforts to eliminate or even reduce the practice will be doomed.

Originally Posted by Cangooner

Soaring?

African Forest Elephant Population Plummeting - ScienceNOW

I agree with Bob that the key here is to address the forces that drive poaching. Without that, any efforts to eliminate or even reduce the practice will be doomed.

True.

Burning is not a solution to the root cause problem. But not burning would not fix the problem either, and -due to corruption- only make the poaching problem worse.

Originally Posted by donv

A while back, I saw a photo of a huge pile of confiscated ivory being burned. That made me sad. I'm sure that there is some reason for not doing it, but, why couldn't the government sell the ivory and use the proceeds to pay for taking care of the living elephants? Burning it, to me, seemed to be a final insult to the dead elephants. It didn't bring them back, it didn't send a message to any poachers, it just made an ugly fire. I don't know, it just seemed really messed up.

I read an article a few years ago, discussing the different ways various African states were going about protecting the elephants and other large species.

The places with flat out bans were struggling had were dealing with diminishing herds.

The nations that had seasons and sold hunting rights were experiencing exponential growth of their herds. Plus where funding their conservation programs.


You know, in our wealth we have no concept of true poverty. I can't say I wouldn't harvest an elephant if the Choice was the elephant or my kid...

And we're not even going to TALK about what happens to Mr Badger!

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

And we're not even going to TALK about what happens to Mr Badger!

Oh no - first thebigspendur provokes me into posting something stupid, now you: