The Wildlife Conservation Society recently posted heartening news.
In light of the tragic fact that nearly 100 African elephants are killed every single day in Africa for their ivory tusks, it’s easy for people of heart to ask: “Who on Earth wants ivory at this point in time? How can one sleep at night having killed a rare and endangered elephant for their tusks?” Who? Those who richly profit by it. There is no conscious awareness of the tragedy, only separation and violence against nature and all of life. How? Countries like the US provided a huge market for ivory. Shocking? You bet it is, and it’s changing thanks to our watchful eyes.
The Obama Administration just announced a big step towards banning ivory sales in the United States. This country is one of the largest markets for ivory in the world – I simply can’t overstate what an important moment this is in the fight to save elephants.
The announcement comes at a time of unprecedented slaughter. New WCS data shows that a shocking 9% of forest elephants are poached each year. We already knew that 2011 and 2012 were two of the worst years for African elephants. While supporters like you have helped us ramp up protections, well-organized criminal poachers stepped up their game, too. 2013 proved to be just as deadly.
This could be the turning point.
The White House issued a major new strategy to combat wildlife crime, committing the full power of the United States to stopping elephant poaching and ivory trafficking, and other wildlife crime. WCS President and CEO, Cristián Samper, who serves on the Presidential Advisory Council to the Task Force, summed up this strategy perfectly when he said: “Wildlife criminals, beware.”