Westerners and people in East Africa are critical of Asia and China in particular for the consumption of ivory. There is a degree of ethnocentrism in our view of who is at fault for killing off elephant and rhinoceros. This YouTube clip provides balance and expands our perspective at least a little bit.
People strive to get ahead. It is only natural. Taking ivory, selling it, displaying trophy and making jewelry generates income. Sales of ivory in the United States appears to be dropping off since the writing of the 2008 monograph “Marketing Ivory in the United States” published by Care for the Wild International and Save the Elephants. The jury is still out really but it isn’t only new wealth in China buying ivory. More attention worldwide is needed.
In the United States’ stockpile of ivory is soon to be destroyed in a media event similar to the landmark burning of 2000 tusks in Kenya in 1989. Ivory will be crushed in the parking lot, ivory confiscated by U.S. Customs officers over the course of many years. And it is taking place in Denver Colorado. Coincidental but bravo nevertheless.
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