Posted on 04/30/2016 11:18:12 AM PDT by OddLane
Elephant poaching is rampant throughout Africa. Unfortunately, Western nations have exacerbated the problem by banning the sale of ivory. Elephants are dying as a result. The West should reopen the ivory trade.
Artists and artisans have used ivory for thousands of years. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to get tusks off a live elephant. So in 1989 the international sale of new ivory products was prohibited. Concluded analyst Peter Fitzmaurice, “with most nations adhering closely to the ban, the legal ivory trade has been decimated and value of this natural resource for range countries has been vastly diminished.”
Nevertheless, the illegal trade continues. Asia is the prime destination, but last year two New York City jewelers pled guilty to trafficking in illegal ivory. An estimated 38,000 African elephants are being killed annually, “more than at any time in decades,” reported the New York Times. The elephant population dropped from some 1.3 million in 1979 to 470,000 or even fewer today.
(Excerpt) Read more at cato.org ...
Why are there more cows in the US than buffalo?
Because cows are profitable, buffalo are not.
Bleeding hearts interfering with the market.
I’ve visited East Africa several times...most recently earlier this year.I’ve talked to Kenyan,Tanzanian and South African game wardens and guides at some length about poaching.Every one of them has told me that the basic problem is that if a group of poachers manages to “bag” (my word) an elephant or rhino they can make the equivalent of 5 years wages for their home area.It’s the damn Chinese who want rhino horns (they think it enhances male virility...the stupid savages) and I’m not certain who wants ivory today.
In general terms I agree that bans promote a black market that can be more detrimental than without a ban (but not necessarily).
But you could say the same thing about prostitution, child sex trafficking, drugs ... etc. Banning those things also encourages a black market to flourish because the commodity in question become harder to obtain, and therefore more valuable.
So I think the author needs to re-work his logic a little.
I read recently that Cecil’s plight has led to a population explosion among young military-aged male lions living outside of prides.
I'll give you one small market. In the Japanese tea ceremony (note: "chajin" means someone who practices the tea ceremony), there is a level of tea practice called karamono, which is when one is using a ceramic tea container originally made in ancient China. Instead of the usual bamboo tea scoop, when practicing karamono one is supposed to use an ivory tea scoop, which is what the ancient Chinese used in their version of the tea ceremony. I learned karamono about the time ivory production was banned, so I have never been able to obtain an ivory scoop for myself. ( is a close-up picture of one.)
Government sanctions against the private ownership of a stupendous range of plants, animals and minerals has created a decimation of the environments in which these items are found.
Here in Florida many species of fish and reptiles are banned from import in the foolish presumption that their ownership in private hands will upset some supposed balance of nature. Never mind Florida is home to species from the entire earth, all living in relative harmony.
Why do governments ban private ownership? Because they can.
Yes, but making ivory more scarce drives up the price. It might not be 5 years of wages if it were managed instead of banned.
Because cows are profitable, buffalo are not.
There were once more buffalo than cows and buffalo were profitable. People shot all the buffalo until there were almost none left.
The only reason this doesn't happen with cows is that they are domesticated and purposely bred in very large numbers for eventual slaughter. Do we really want to do that with elephants?
Soon we should be able to genetically grow the full sized tusks....on mice.
And to make matters worse for the elephants, our gov’t destroyed ivory pieces already in circulation, decreasing supply and causing price and demand to rise. Fools!
“It’s the damn Chinese who want rhino horns (they think it enhances male virility...the stupid savages) and I’m not certain who wants ivory today.”
Clearly, an ethnic group “bigger” than Chinese...
I don’t really see your comparison. Ivory could be considered an investment that could increase in value, whereas drugs and prostitution, not so much.
Ivory, both raw and “worked”, is still a major social and status symbol in Asia, especially in countries with rapidly growing economies and middle/upper classes that have money for “conspicuous consumption”.
Within the last few months one of the East African countries (Kenya? Tanzania?) chose to destroy tens of millions of dollars (or more) worth of illegal ivory that had been captured and impounded. I recall thinking how stupid and unthinking it was to burn it instead of dumping it on the market...selling it would have benefited the national economy, collapsed the illegal market, and probably filled the Asian demand for years if not decades.
I was comparing them in a supply/demand context. Less supply, greater demand. This is why so many people got rich during prohibition (also there is the allure of the taboo).
No, we don’t want to do that with elephants, and I say that not only as an elephant lover but from a practical standpoint. Elephants have long gestation periods and don’t reproduce as much as cows. Elephants eat a lot and the tusks don’t even begin to grow until 2 or 3 yrs. Of age.
well you’re right there. Also making prostitution and drugs illegal leads to more crime.
Depends on what you mean by "ban." There's punishment, of whatever level. And then there's "we'll hunt you down and kill you." Adults indulging in mutually agreed upon but proscribed behaviour like prostitution, dangerous drugs, etc, is the former thing.
Forced or child prostitution, slavery, etc., is the latter thing, or should be.
BTTT.
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