May 2, 2016
Sending a powerful message that poaching in their country will not be tolerated, the Kenyan government set fire to an enormous stockpile of seized elephant and rhino tusks.
The conflagration, which was the largest such ivory burn ever, consisted of a ton of elephant tusks as well as more than a ton of rhino horns.
It is believed that the elephant tusks constituted a tragic 6,700 elephants which had been killed for their precious ivory and another 450 rhinos that met a similar sad fate.
The contraband materials, which were valued at around $180 million dollars, were recovered by the Kenyan government as part of a crackdown on poachers preying on their beloved native animals.
Critics, however, say that such bold destruction of the highly-sought after tusks and horns will only cause demand to increase, since it caused the global supply to become greatly diminished.
Nonetheless, Kenyan wildlife officials argue that they see the ivory and horns as worthless, since they were stolen from the animals that possessed it.
While the massive ivory burn may do little to dissuade poachers from continuing their nefarious harvest, it provides a profound example of the enormity of the illegal trade that is threatening Africa's iconic animals.
Source: BBC News
Sending a powerful message that poaching in their country will not be tolerated, the Kenyan government set fire to an enormous stockpile of seized elephant and rhino tusks.
The conflagration, which was the largest such ivory burn ever, consisted of a ton of elephant tusks as well as more than a ton of rhino horns.
It is believed that the elephant tusks constituted a tragic 6,700 elephants which had been killed for their precious ivory and another 450 rhinos that met a similar sad fate.
The contraband materials, which were valued at around $180 million dollars, were recovered by the Kenyan government as part of a crackdown on poachers preying on their beloved native animals.
Critics, however, say that such bold destruction of the highly-sought after tusks and horns will only cause demand to increase, since it caused the global supply to become greatly diminished.
Nonetheless, Kenyan wildlife officials argue that they see the ivory and horns as worthless, since they were stolen from the animals that possessed it.
While the massive ivory burn may do little to dissuade poachers from continuing their nefarious harvest, it provides a profound example of the enormity of the illegal trade that is threatening Africa's iconic animals.
Source: BBC News