JPN ivory sales 10yrs after ban

[Taro Toporific]

Every hanko/seal store in Japan sells "old-stock" ivory seals and ongaku/music stores sell ivory picks, bridges, etc EVEN after the 10 year ban. There's a lot of old elephants out there. Sheesh.
. Illegal Ivory Trade Booming
Scotsman.com 2:46am (UK) 22 Oct
Demand for poached ivory continues to grow, MPs were being told today as a new report on the trade was presented at the House of Commons... they uncovered evidence of a further 54,000 items of ivory in the Far East, China (including Hong Kong), Japan, Singapore and Taiwan..."Combined, this suggests roughly 27 tonnes of ivory is still in circulation more than 10 years after the trade was banned worldwide." "That translates to about 3,500 tusk-bearing elephants and probably to the slaughter of more than 5,000 because poachers commonly mow down whole herds, including the young."

[GomiGirl]

I heard that many african governments held stockpiles of seized ivory from poachers and every now and then they sold off a heap to Japan for use in Hanko's etc to raise revenue.

but then maybe I am being naive???

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

I heard that many african governments held stockpiles of seized ivory from poachers and every now and then they sold off a heap to Japan for use in Hanko's etc to raise revenue.

but then maybe I am being naive???

Its true, what I find worse is that they seize huge amounts and burn it. I know it is supposed to be a deterent, but if they just gave it away for free it would decerease the demand and the price would fall, so it wouldnt be a fashionable.

I am sure if louis vutton gave away thousands of bags people wouldnt strive to buy them anymore.

[Taro Toporific]

I heard that many african governments held stockpiles of seized ivory from poachers and every now and then they sold off a heap to Japan for use in Hanko's etc to raise revenue.

Japan a too-willing participant in ivory trade
Asahi.com Nov 14 2003 1:52AM.... in 1989, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, commonly known as CITES, banned the international trading of ivory.
However, Japan and some countries in southern Africa worked on signatories of the convention to win their approval for Japan to import about 50 tons of ivory in 1999. Furthermore, over the objection of nations in eastern and western Africa, in accordance with a decision at last year's meeting of signatories, Japan is possibly set to import about 60 tons of ivory in stock from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa next year after a five-year hiatus.
The [u]Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is providing subsidies for ivory imports]/u], saying it needs to support the industry's effort aimed at resuming commercial trade of ivory and providing a better international environment to facilitate ivory imports and exports.

[Mike Oxlong]

2011 was 'worst year ever' for elephants with record ivory seizures

It's been a disastrous year for elephants, perhaps the worst since ivory sales were banned in 1989 to save the world's largest land animals from extinction, the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC said Thursday.

A record number of large seizures of elephant tusks represents at least 2,500 dead animals and shows that organized crime — in particular Asian syndicates — is increasingly involved in the illegal ivory trade and the poaching that feeds it, the group said.

Some of the seized tusks came from old stockpiles, the elephants having been killed years ago. It's not clear how many elephants were recently killed in Africa for their tusks, but experts are alarmed.

TRAFFIC's elephant and rhino expert Tom Milliken thinks criminals may have the upper hand in the war to save rare and endangered animals.

"As most large-scale ivory seizures fail to result in any arrests, I fear the criminals are winning," Milliken told The Associated Press.

Most cases involve ivory being smuggled from Africa into Asia, where growing wealth has fed the desire for ivory ornaments and for rhino horn that is used in traditional medicine, though scientists have proved it has no medicinal value.

"The escalation in ivory trade and elephant and rhino killing is being driven by the Asian syndicates that are now firmly enmeshed within African societies," Milliken said in a telephone interview from his base in Zimbabwe. "There are more Asians than ever before in the history of the continent, and this is one of the repercussions."...

[Mike Oxlong]

Poachers kill 200 elephants in Cameroon killing spree

Poachers have killed more than 200 elephants in Cameroon in just six weeks, in a "massacre" fuelled by Asian demand for ivory.

A local government official said heavily armed poachers from Chad and Sudan had decimated the elephant population of Bouba Ndjida National Park in Cameroon's far north in a dry season killing spree.

"We are talking about a very serious case of trans-frontier poaching, involving well-armed poachers with modern weapons from Sudan and Chad who are decimating this wildlife species to make quick money from the international ivory trade," said Gambo Haman, governor of Cameroon's North region.

Speaking on local radio, Haman said some of the poachers were on horseback and operated in cahoots with the local population, who were given free elephant meat and were glad to be rid of animals that damage their crops.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said cross-border poaching was common during the dry season but the scale of the killings so far this year was unprecedented.

"This latest massacre is massive and has no comparison to those of the preceding years," the group said in a statement.

Citing a record number of large scale ivory seizures in 2011, TRAFFIC, a conservation group which tracks trends in wildlife trading, has warned of a surge in elephant poaching in Africa to meet Asian demand for tusks for use in jewelry and ornaments...

[Coligny]

In other news, it seems that we have a baby elephant born at the Toyohashi zoo... His pictures are all over the place at the train station...

[Samurai_Jerk]

What's the deal with the Asian need for bits and pieces of endangered animals?

[Yokohammer]

What's the deal with the Asian need for bits and pieces of endangered animals?

Culture!*
No one shall interfere with Asia's right to express identity through culture!*

[SIZE="1"]* Read: "money."[/SIZE]

[Samurai_Jerk]

money

I get that on the supply side but I was thinking more about the demand side. Why the fuck is having, for example, an ivory hanko so damned important?

[Mike Oxlong]

Same reason folks wear elephant skin cowboy boots...

[Yokohammer]

I get that on the supply side but I was thinking more about the demand side. Why the fuck is having, for example, an ivory hanko so damned important?

Same thing, I think.
It's an expression of wealth or perceived status.

People will say they prefer the feel, or the subtle way an ivory hanko applies the ink to the paper, but I think it's really just "look at me ... I can afford an expensive and rare ivory hanko."

Piano keys are another example. The traditional facing material is ivory, and some people still insist that ivory keys feel better, or that they don't get sticky, or whatever. But a proficient player will play just as well on synthetic (plastic) keys. As you imply, ivory isn't necessary. It's just status.

[Coligny]

i think the problem is when maker use plastic they don't exactly aim for the proper feeling but morr for the proper price...

A properly casted part in carefully selected and mixed resin can feel mighty good too... But cost as much if not more, without bearing the prestigious 'ivory' label...

[Sa_Race]

I have only these words for you : whale penis-foreskin leather.

More on the ivory matter : http://www.animallaw.info/journals/jo_pdf/lralvol_7p119.pdf From page 13 to the end it's about ivory trade in japan. From 2001, but interesting nonetheless.

[Cyka UchuuJin]

I get that on the supply side but I was thinking more about the demand side. Why the fuck is having, for example, an ivory hanko so damned important?

it's not important at all.

this is a lot more a chinese thing than japan though.

this is a topic that gets me really wound up. rhino poaching in kenya has gone up 400% last year, and elephant poaching is on the rise as well.