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IFAW Triumphant After Ivory
Confiscation Judgment
IFAW and ANC Staff
Nearly six years after the Delhi High Court dismissed a petition by ivory traders to clear the ivory stock they held, the Supreme Court of India upheld the same decision and ordered the government to repossess all ivory stocks held by the traders.
The ivory, which is in both raw and carved form, weighs at least 20 tonnes and is worth millions of dollars according to official estimates.
In the landmark decision this week, the judges dismissed the traders' demands which began in 1991 to be allowed to clear the stocks they held following a 1986 ban on sale, import and export of ivory.
The Supreme Court ordered the Indian Government to take possession of all ivory stock including products such as idols and images of God, which, according to the Court, should be kept in museums for aesthetic purposes.
"It is very important to sound a clear message that it will no longer be remunerative to deal with ivory, not even for the purpose of one-time sale," read the 48-page judgment issued by the Delhi Court in 1997.
"A 4,000 year old tradition of carving in ivory comes to an end. It was either the tradition or the tusker elephant. India chose the tusker," said Ashok Kumar, senior advisor and trustee, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
"A time comes when a nation must give up traditions which outlive their validity. India did give up widow burning, untouchability and more recently, consumptive use of wild fauna," added Kumar.
"IFAW salutes and commends the Supreme Court of India's decision. The message is clear - trade in ivory presents only short-term economic benefits that have long-term and far-reaching detrimental effects on elephant populations," said Jason Bell-Leask, Southern Africa Regional Director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW - www.ifaw.org).
"IFAW is now encouraging other countries to emulate India in the protection of elephants," he said.
"Compounded by the lack of domestic legislative, regulatory and enforcement control in both Asian and African countries, any form of legal trade provides cover for the trafficking of illegal ivory from threatened populations of wild elephants," Bell-Leask added.
IFAW has had a unique partnership with WTI since 2000, with the aim of strengthening the cause of wildlife conservation in India especially for Asian elephants.
The partnership has reinforced anti-poaching efforts in India, which is home to more than half of all Asian elephants.
This News Report has been provided by the
Animal News Center, Inc. ©2003
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