Post by jasmine on Oct 3, 2005 18:04:42 GMT
Europe's thriving ivory retail market is threatening an increase in elephant poaching, conservationists have warned.
More than 27,000 ivory products were found on sale in five major European countries where investigators went: the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
Global conservation groups Care for the Wild and Save the Elephants say an active ivory market spurs poachers on.
Elephant populations in Africa were halved in the 1980s, after more than 500,000 animals were slaughtered.
Although the ivory trade has shrunk in Europe since the 1989 ban passed by the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), the groups' investigators found a worrying number of artefacts on sale.
We mustn't forget that every item represents a dead elephant (Barbara Maas, Care for the Wild)
news.bbc.co.uk
I hate this. I hate any trade were an animal is killed, for ivory, fur (or horns in the case of Rhino’s.) I know Rhino’s are not killed necessarily, but they have their horn taken off and are the most threatened with extinction
The fur belongs on the animals not on our backs. They were born with it.
The tusks of the elephants are used for digging, ripping off bark, foraging, resting a heavy trunk, and as weapons. Not for uses in jewellery nor ornamentation.
The horn of a Rhino is highly valued in certain parts of the world for medicinal and cultural reasons. I believe other remedies can be used.
A Rhino uses its horn as a weapon. It can kill a lion with it. A male Rhino sometimes uses it to fight another male. They also use their horn to dig up soil to look for salt and other minerals. No wonder these poor creatures are threatened with extinction. How are they expected to hunt?
More than 27,000 ivory products were found on sale in five major European countries where investigators went: the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
Global conservation groups Care for the Wild and Save the Elephants say an active ivory market spurs poachers on.
Elephant populations in Africa were halved in the 1980s, after more than 500,000 animals were slaughtered.
Although the ivory trade has shrunk in Europe since the 1989 ban passed by the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), the groups' investigators found a worrying number of artefacts on sale.
We mustn't forget that every item represents a dead elephant (Barbara Maas, Care for the Wild)
news.bbc.co.uk
I hate this. I hate any trade were an animal is killed, for ivory, fur (or horns in the case of Rhino’s.) I know Rhino’s are not killed necessarily, but they have their horn taken off and are the most threatened with extinction
The fur belongs on the animals not on our backs. They were born with it.
The tusks of the elephants are used for digging, ripping off bark, foraging, resting a heavy trunk, and as weapons. Not for uses in jewellery nor ornamentation.
The horn of a Rhino is highly valued in certain parts of the world for medicinal and cultural reasons. I believe other remedies can be used.
A Rhino uses its horn as a weapon. It can kill a lion with it. A male Rhino sometimes uses it to fight another male. They also use their horn to dig up soil to look for salt and other minerals. No wonder these poor creatures are threatened with extinction. How are they expected to hunt?