Associated Press
The world's first legal ivory auctions in nearly a decade ended Thursday with four African nations selling more than a hundred tons of tusks to Chinese and Japanese traders for the equivalent of nearly 15 million U.S. dollars.
The money raised during the controversial week of sales will reportedly be used for African elephant conservation.
The auctions took place after South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe were granted a one-time exemption from the 1989 global ban on trade in ivory because of their thriving elephant herds.
The approval came after heated debate within the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. The move has prompted protests from African nations with dwindling elephant populations as well as animal welfare groups.
"I believe that auctioning the ivory stockpiles would cause poaching to increase particularly in the central, eastern and western African elephant range states where poaching is not yet properly controlled," wrote Kenya-based conservationist and paleontologist Richard Leakey on his blog Wednesday.
"As the hammer falls for the last time in South Africa on Thursday, we cannot in any way say that this is a victory for conservation," Leakey added. "It is indeed a great disservice to conservation."
(See "Elephants Decimated in Congo Park; China Demand Blamed" [August 29, 2008].)
David Mabunda, chief executive of South African National Parks, saw promise in the recent sales.
"We fully appreciate and embrace our responsibility to ensure that we stamp down on poaching of any kind, and so we intend to use considerable amounts of the funds we raise today toward increasing our antipoaching capacity," Mabundas said.
(Related: "Ebay Bans Ivory Sales Amid Conservation Concerns" [October 21, 2008].)
Final Sale
The final auction in the series of closed-door sales took place in Pretoria, South Africa.
