Petition to stop elephants from being illegally poached to fulfill the demand for ivory

August 24, 6:47 PMDC Pet Care ExaminerErin Paquette

Previous

2 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the DC Pet Care Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

By bzalenski on Morguefile

The headline “Permanently Ban the Sale of Ivory” seems like something out of the 1800’s; after all, it is estimated that in 1831 nearly 4,000 elephants were killed in Great Britain alone to satisfy the demand for raw ivory and ivory-based goods.

But it isn’t a headline out of the 1800’s. It isn’t even a headline from the early 1900’s; it’s a headline from 2009.

Despite the many alternatives to ivory, “Kenyan Wildlife Authorities recently seized $1 million worth of elephant tusks bound for ivory markets in Asia,” according to the petition aimed at Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers on Care2.com.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the petition goes on to say that, “[t]he growing demand of ivory has lead to skyrocketing rates of illegal poaching, and unless sales are permanently banned, elephants are likely to go extinct.”

That’s right—despite all of the technological advances we’ve made since the 1800’s, people are still willing to illegally poach elephants for their tusks.

While we cannot change this practice overnight, we can take steps toward fighting it:

1. Sign the petition
2. Email the petition to your friends to raise awareness
3. Do not buy ivory-based products, and encourage others to do the same.

Each person can make a difference. If you know of any other ways to combat illegal elephant poaching, please feel free to leave a comment below and share your knowledge with others.

If you are interested in learning more about other petitions that will benefit pets and wildlife, please visit the petition area of Care2.com.