Ignorant Asian buyers push up demand for ivory

The demand for ivory has been surging in the Asian market leading to a massacre of African elephants. However, consumers in Asia are oblivious of how they are contributing to illegal killing of elephants in Africa.

At the Samburu National Reserve, one of China’s most popular film stars Li Bingbing has come to highlight the illegal ivory trade driving poaching, and to support efforts to reduce demand for ivory in Asia. The reserve is a home to about 900 elephants.

Li Bingbing breaks down as she sees a carcass of an elephant killed by poachers.

“I want to spread the message... that we should stop the killing because there’s blood slaughter and a poaching crisis happening behind the beautiful carvings and jewellery,” Li Bingbing said.

“Many consumers in Asia do not realise that by buying ivory, they are playing a role in the illegal wildlife trade and its serious consequences. As global citizens, we need to take responsibility by learning more about the potential impacts of our lifestyle choices,” the Hollywood star said.

The Kenya visit by Li Bingbing, who was recently named Asian Star of the Year by Variety magazine, marks her first overseas engagement as Goodwill Ambassador for the Unep.

Li Bingbing says that before coming to Africa, she had no idea that elephant slaughter had relations with beautiful ivory bracelets.

On May 15 last year, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) confirmed the seizure of three containers with ivory, which were being shipped from the Mombasa Port to Sri Lanka. KWS reports that large-scale seizures of ivory destined for Asia have doubled since 2009.

Experts now believe that poached ivory is exchanged for money, weapons and ammunition to support conflicts across African continent.

Poaching is rife across African parks. In Cameroon, up to 450 elephants were killed early last year while in January this year, Kenyans woke up to shocking news that poachers had slaughtered an entire family of 12 elephants and taken away their tusks in the country’s largest wildlife reserve, the Tsavo East National Park.

Statistics from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) programme Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants, shows that 17,000 elephants were illegally killed in 2011. Indications are that the number of elephants killed in 2012 ran into the tens of thousands according to a Unep report.

Save the Elephants, a group working to protect wildlife, has been putting collars on the animals and tracking them using satellites. “The normal collars cost about $6,000 each,” says Gilbert Sabinga of Save the Elephant.

“An excessive demand for ivory is at the root of the rise in the illegal killing of elephants, and attempts to save them will fail unless this is tackled,” said elephant expert Iain Douglas-Hamilton.