Avaaz is the Song Against The Ivory Trade

One of the greatest threats to a single species may be the most easily deterred. A high demand for ivory in Asia, mainly China, fueled illegal trade well after a 1989 international ban.

We’re talking blood ivory; freshly harvested tusks from African elephants whose mutilated bodies are left to rot on the savannas. Ivory is all poachers want, and it’s worth the risk of being caught when they can sell it for up to $1,000 per pound.

About 20,000 African elephants are killed annually. At this rate, the species could be wiped out in a decade. The solution is to close the door on illegal international trade.

In March 2018, at a Botswana conference on saving the elephants, 32 African leaders signed a petition calling for the European Union to close its ivory market.

The EU, primarily England, is the world’s largest exporter of legal ivory, according to the global advocacy group Avaaz, and essentially the last holdout in the effort to shut down the supply chain.

Legal to cross borders is ivory that is pre-worked or is proven to be antique. According to The World Wildlife Fund, in a recent 5-year period, 36,000 pieces were processed through UK customs. At that volume, it is believed to provide significant cover for illegal trade, presuming a percentage will miss detection. During that same timeframe, nearly 3,000 illegal wildlife products were seized in the UK, more than a third blood ivory.

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