The Threat of Poaching and Illegal Trafficking of Ivory

Australia with its enriched wildlife species is also a soft target for poachers and hunters who target elephant and especially rhinos for their precious ivory and horns which come at a high price in the international market. Although eminent countries have taken up the issue of poaching and wildlife at risk to be of utmost importance, it is still a grey zone for the Australian government who yet has to ponder upon the legal loopholes which empower the poachers and the black market businessmen. The declining amount of elephant and rhinoceros possess a threat to the Australian wildlife and ecology. Besides, most of the poaching caters not to the Australian subcontinent but the international market that fuels this malpractice with millions of dollars. It should also be noted that countries like China and the United States of America have already banned the poaching industry from operating in the domestic market (Biggs et al. 2013).  The Australian government should also interfere in this malpractice that leaves no mercy on the animals that they feed upon. In fact, it is high time that the Australian government bans the businessmen from partaking ivory trade in the domestic as well as international.  This paper with it’s in depth discussion about different policies thrives on recommending steps that should be pondered upon by the government so that the ivory trade be gone, forever, from the land of Australia.

The International  Wildlife Bond identifies as an innovation that uses the digital platform in order to protect the well being of the animal kingdom. Established in 2015, it primarily works as an organization who reaches out to its target audience through the digital platform as they believe that the internet is the best place to create awareness amongst the inhabitants of this planet. Through impressive digital innovations, the International  Wildlife Bond voices out their opinions in favour of the animal kingdom and the different range of crises that they face. It also works to protect the right of the animal kingdom to be sustained. Through their online platform, the International  Wildlife Bond works constantly to create awareness, sharing ideas as well as generating funds which would be utterly helpful to rescue and protect the endangered animals. A crowd funding platform, it works by actively criticizing abuse and killings of animals for the sole purpose of human recreations. The organization thrives on resisting the poaching industry that possesses a serious threat to the life of wild animals. It detects poaching activities world wild and works closely with the government of the nation in order to curb any kind of poaching activities. It closely works with the government to detect any illegal transport of animal by-products such as fur, bones, carcass, ivory and horns and thereby eliminating poaching agencies and poaching agents who are responsible for such heinous crimes (Crookes and Blignaut 2015). The International  Wildlife Bond also works towards shunning the ill practice of trophy hunting as it drives beautiful animals towards extinction. Thus, it demands for the abolition of the age old recreational game of trophy hunting. This nonprofit organization also works towards a world free of synthetic hunting and they also petition against the practice of hunting conservation (Zhou 2014). The International  Wildlife Bond also organizes campaigns and supports legal channels in order to bring change or enforce laws that will take into consideration, the conservation of the animal kingdom. The organization is involved in the international sphere with an eagle eye towards any abuse of animals which pushes that particular species towards extinction.

The Role of International Wildlife Bond in Protecting Endangered Species

To obtain ivory and ivory related products, the illegal poaching industry possesses a serious life threat to animals such as elephants and rhinoceros.  It is mandatory that the wildlife diversity is saved for the future generation and to maintain the sane equilibrium of the environment.  It should be reiterated here that the Australian government has indeed ordered for an inquiry that is to  chalk out the ivory trade business that takes place within the Australian continent (Smith, Biggs and St. John 2015).  This brave statement does, in fact, showcase the commitment that the Australian government has towards the conservation of the endangered species of the animals in question. The ivory trade ban has been supported by many countries which are proactively seeking channels to completely dedicate themselves to the preservation of these endangered animals. Countries like the United States of America and China have banned the trade of ivory in their territory (Muboko and Murindagomo  2014). Following them, the hub of ivory trade Hong Kong has already implied a ban on any form of ivory trade within the territory. Countries in the European Union has been inclining towards the ban on ivory and as an example, France’s ban on ivory trade can be taken as an example.

The global scene of ivory trade generates at least fifteen to twenty billion dollars annually. Innumerous animals are slaughtered each year for the extraction of trunks and horns that fuel the ivory trade.  The core area of poaching activity in the African nations is pushing the elephants and rhinoceros towards extinction. It can only be prevented with the ban on ivory trade both domestically and internationally (Gao et al. 2016). A situation where all the markets of ivory trade will be permanently shut down will be the only golden opportunity for the elephants and rhinos to have a life that is free of lethal threats (Wyler and Sheikh 2013). Illegal trade concerning the wildlife is the booming ground for criminals who flourish in such a lucrative marketplace. Besides, a surge in the demand for ivory related products is on the rise from the East and South East Asian countries. The and South East Asian countries place a deep belief system in traditional unauthorized medicines that promote ivory product dust to cure ailments (Princen 2013). The aerial census which is also known as the Great Elephant Census enlightened the human population that the African elephant population, the seventy percent of it has been wiped out rapidly from 2007-2014. These seven years wreaked havoc on the elephants as 144000 of them were killed only to satisfy the ivory lust of human beings.

The Need for Government Action in Banning Ivory Trade

The backdrop for the ivory trade ban was one that was created slowly. In 1989 the CITES or International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna made it a motto to ban the ivory trade business once and forever (Huxley 2013). The convention that was arranged did not make a huge impact as in many countries which included Australia, ivory trade continued to become a flourishing business. The aim of CITES is to oversee the prevention of harm to any wildlife while they are being soft targets of human greed. The exploitation of plants and animals for different by-products such as fur, medicine, musical instruments, memoirs and curious deplete the population and pushes them on the verge of extinction. To prevent such acts, the United Kingdom, in the year 2016 passed a legislation that banned the sale of designer ivory products which dates anything newer than 1947. The United States of America along with China pledged to end all trades relating to ivory which they followed through with gradually. The 2016, 17th CITES Conference saw a growth of interest in banning ivory trade in order to protect the rights of survival of the wildlife animals (Reeve 2014).

To present a different perspective, it is of utmost importance that we take the example of the Cocaine trade of Latin America or the sex trade industries, which are all banned from the mainstream society. Did it end the plague of vice with the ban of cocaine production? Well, unfortunately, the answer is no. It only gave birth to legal loopholes through which the illegal trades flourish (Mofson 2013). Powerful local goons turn cartels and lead such business with élan. The price of the banned goods also increase thoroughly and in near future, it would be highly impossible for any form of legality to stop the production of coca left being turned into cocaine. Besides, the ban on the ivory trade business only saw a decline in the demands in the Japanese land whereas the demand for the same kept on increasing in Vietnam and China.  It should be noted here that, the sellers of ivory in the South East Asian lands would just stockpile the ivory and sell it in a price that is multifold times higher than the original price. An alternative to completely ban the demand of ivory would be to create awareness with scientific proof, amongst people that ivory has no connection with vigor, health or virility (Collins, Fraser and Snowball 2013). It is also possible that people husband or rear the elephants and harvest ivory in a sustainable way without harming or murdering the innocent animals.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, it can be inferred that the ban on ivory trade must be of utmost importance to the government of Australia. With the ban, it will also be clear that the Government of Australia does not support or indulge in any kind of ivory trade.  It is also necessary that all forms of ivory trade be banned, domestic and international.  It might be of help if the Australian government also bans any form of antique ivory trade as it would only fuel the idea of a zero-tolerance policy on the ivory trade scenario.

References

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Smith, R.J., Biggs, D., St. John, F.A., ‘t Sas?Rolfes, M. and Barrington, R., 2015. Elephant conservation and corruption beyond the ivory trade. Conservation Biology, 29(3), pp.953-956.

Zhou, Z.M., 2014. China: synthetic ivory fails to stop illegal trade. Nature, 507(7490), p.40.

Biggs, D., Courchamp, F., Martin, R. and Possingham, H.P., 2013. Legal trade of Africa’s rhino horns. Science, 339(6123), pp.1038-1039.

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