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https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/10153717378051939/
ELEVEN GIANT PYRES of tusks were set alight today as Kenya torched its vast ivory stockpile in a grand gesture aimed at shocking the world into stopping the slaughter of elephants.
Huge white clouds of smoke spiralled into the sky as the flames took hold, fuelled by thousands of litres of diesel and kerosene injected through steel pipes.
Lighting the fire in Nairobi’s national park, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta demanded a total ban on trade in ivory to end the “murderous” trafficking and prevent the extinction of elephants in the wild.
“The height of the pile of ivory before us marks the strength of our resolve,” Kenyatta said, before thrusting a burning torch onto the ivory.
No-one, and I repeat no-one, has any business in trading in ivory, for this trade means death of our elephants and death of our natural heritage.
The tusks are expected to burn for days.
Kenyatta on Friday led a summit of African heads of state and conservationists pushing for a total ban.
“We will not be the Africans who stood by as we lost our elephants,” he told the meeting in a keynote address.
The bonfires are the largest-ever torching of ivory, containing 105 tonnes from thousands of dead elephants, seven times bigger than any stockpile burned before.
Another 1.35 tonnes of rhino horn are also being burned, representing the killing of around 340 of the endangered animals.
‘Evil commodity’
President Ali Bongo from Gabon, who lit one of the pyres, spoke of the “massacre” of forest elephants in central Africa, and said he backed moves to stop the sale of all ivory.
“Unless we take action now we risk losing this magnificent animal,” Bongo said at the ceremony, telling poachers he was “going to put you out of business, so the best thing you can do is to go into retirement now”.
Africa is home to between 450,000 to 500,000 elephants, but more than 30,000 are killed every year on the continent to satisfy demand for ivory in Asia, where raw tusks sell for around €800 per kg.
The pyres contained some 16,000 tusks and pieces of ivory.
Kenya has a long history of ivory burnings, spearheading a wider movement of public demonstrations across the world, but nothing on this scale before.
On the black market, such a quantity of ivory could sell for over $100 million, and the rhino horn could raise as much as $80 million.
Rhino horn can fetch as much as $60,000 per kilo — more than gold or cocaine.
But Kenyatta dismissed those who put a cash value on the ivory.
“For us, ivory is worthless unless it is on our elephants,” Kenyatta said.
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Would love to see the worlds biggest poacher bonfire.
Would it not be better to educate the idiots who ask the poachers to supply the Ivory?
Or burn the idiots who ask the poachers to supply the ivory
@Padraig Very good point. China is the biggest buyer of ivory and many Chinese actually believe the ivory is cut off the elephant and it simply grows back.
By 2025 these wonderful creatures may well be extinct if this kind of poaching continues. Human beings are without doubt the worst creation of all.
Dead right Paul.
Humans are the only ones who say:
“Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa”.
I think this is more about the message they want sent out to would be poachers,pretty powerful image of all those tusks being burnt!
Burned!
I blame the Chinese.
At the risk of being burned myself..i heard they’re a great bunch of lads.
those idiots have just increased the price of ivory i.e. put more wildlife in danger
Tommy,
Are you suggesting they should of put the ivory up for sale?
Simple supply and demand Nick – of course it’s increased the risk to live stock now.
supply and demand curve take no account or morality. poachers will be celebrating this news its like all their Christmases come at once
James,
And what happens when the simple concept of supply an demand shows and increase of demand, kill some more elephants to flood the market with more ivory?
Your logic is akin to saying the police giving out free drugs to reduce the demand for the sale of drugs. If you think that this is the correct approach then you should be looking to legalise the ivory trade and regulate it.
Yes Nick same applies – if the police did give out free drugs the price on the streets would come down. Drugs kill though whereas ivory doesn’t. It has been muted as a solution to ‘grow or gestate’ ivory to flood the market which would reduce the risk to the live stock.
I think the idea of flooding the market is more to buy precious time for a critically endangered species to recover rather than replace the illegal trade altogether .Flooding the illegal market with ivory would temporarily lower the price giving herds time to recover as poaching becomes less economical for a few years. You still keep the ivory trade illegal and the other safeguards in place. It’s about buying time and nothing else.
James,
Yes that would work but ONLY if the process is legalised and regulated. Currently the ivory trade is neither legal nor regulated so it simply will not work!
Poachers should be shot on sight, maybe a bounty should be put on their heads.
Rowe,
There’s a plan. Make a poachers scalp more valuable than ivory. Problem solved!
However, like the dumb drug mule they are merely pawns. I can’t imagine poachers making much money out of this. The end buyer needs to be targeted.
Rowe, interesting comment. I lived in France years ago where I worked in a bar where ex legionaries often drank. One or two had taken jobs training wildlife wardens and had many a story of actually encouraging them to do exactly that rather than engage with what were often a more heavily armed group. One guy used to even spend long periods up the mountains in Burundi taking potshots at lads going after mountain gorillas.Given the terrain and isolation he probably left a few of them up there.
Ivory doesn’t kill? How do you think the poachers obtain it from the poor animals? By asking them?
I asked for poached not char grilled !
Although saying “kill all poachers” isn’t an easy solution I suppose. It’s really the rich idiots who buy the stuff who are to blame. It’s kind of difficult to blame a poor African wanting to feed his family for taking whats often a years wage. Maybe make possession of undocumented Ivory of any source carry the same penalty as carrying heroin.In China that’s a bullet….
Paddy It’s a pity there are not many more like them, unofficially it should be done, poachers shot on site that is, as we all know the do gooders-(UNCHR), would put a greedy, self serving poachers life before such a magnificent animals right to exist. It’s a tragedy that in our very lifetime these animals could become extinct. Seen this post yesterday just thought I’d share… https://www.instagram.com/p/BEv9fX3GTEh/
Its mad really. Im sure they could have sold it to the Chinese and used that 100 million for the protection of game reserves. It defeats the object in a way. Still tho cant help thinking of the technology and the likes of helicopters that could have been purchased to help the cause.
Ivory suits Elephants best. Not on your wall, nor on your chest. Just think of those Elephants shot to the ground, having THEIR Ivory sawn and bound. Just think, and think and think..
The idea that these amazing animals may become extinct in my lifetime is unbelievable. Just because some idiots have superstitions. Just incredible.
I think it’s fair to say that humans haven’t been very kind to the planet.
The buyers are the ones at fault. I wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire. Unless I could piss petrol….
Any room for politicians on that boss?
Jaysus next we know the Unionists will have ivory bonfires in July
They have burnt plenty of Ivory Coast flags throughout the years
35000 elephants poached and killed in 2015 There are only around 400000 left in the wild in Africa now
Quality Tweety.
Less.
There has to be some way the countries of the world can devalue ivory. If it ain’t worth anything the collectors won’t be bothered. Still doesn’t solve the problem of Chinese people trying to get better erections by using the stuff though. I don’t know who said it but ” nobody on this earth needs a rhino horn except a goddam rhino”
The most dangerous animal on this planet……………….. HUMANS
This planet is merely a staging post, in the greater scheme of things.
Flood the market with all the stockpiles of ivory they have. Immediately devalues the price of it…poachers won’t risk the penalties for too little reward and the money made from selling the ivory gets put back into conservation!!
I think you’re missing the point man, ban the trade altogether.
What is with China and their messed up view towards beautiful animals? Sharks being left to drown after having their fins sliced off, tigers being killed for medicine, elephants and rhinos for their ivory…they have a lot to answer for and unless cultural changes happen over there, this ignorant, uneducated behaviour will continue.
President Bongo?
Bahahahahahahaha!!!!
And yet the BBC has done a program on how ivory is everywhere in Hong Kong by the tonnes…
Should of sold the ivory and with the money hired a load of mercenarys and let them deal with the poachers,so in a way they cause their own downfall good bit of justice that
have your say