Thailand: Govt to curb ivory smuggling

[StrontiumDog]

Govt to curb ivory smuggling | Bangkok Post: news

Govt to curb ivory smuggling

• Published: 30/06/2012 at 03:38 AM
• Newspaper section: News

The National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department will list the African elephant as a protected animal under Thai law following widespread smuggling of African elephant tusks.


Theerapat: Ivory gets delivered via the post

Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, the department's deputy chief, said it would be the first time Thailand will list a non-local wildlife species as a protected animal under the 1992 Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act.

The law, which prohibits possession and trade of protected wild animals and their parts, does not prohibit the inclusion of overseas wild animals on the protection list, he said.

Placing the African elephant under the protection of the law will help curb the illegal ivory trade as it would allow authorities to control the ivory trading business, Mr Theerapat said.

Ivory smugglers would face punishment according to Thai wildlife law, he said.

The law prohibits trading of ivory from wild elephants, but trading of ivory from captive elephants is allowed on the condition that sellers must be able to prove that the ivory did not come from wild animals.

Ivory traders must also register with the Commerce Ministry.

Several shipments of smuggled African elephant ivory have been intercepted by Thai authorities in recent years.

Most were delivered to customers via the postal service, Mr Theerapat said.

The Interior Ministry has been working on amending the obsolete Animals for Transportation Act to plug loopholes that lead to wild elephant poaching.

Under the new amendment, every piece of ivory must be accompanied by a certificate of origin to prove it came from a captive elephant. An elephant ID will be issued for each newborn elephant born in captivity.

Wildlife authorities recently examined 144 elephant camps nationwide and found that at least three camps in Kanchanaburi, Surin and Phuket illegally contained wild elephants.

[StrontiumDog]

WWF Calls on Thai Government to Ban Ivory Trade

WWF Calls on Thai Government to Ban Ivory Trade

Loophole in Thai law Threatens African Elephants.


© Martin Harvey / WWF-Canon

"I’m sure many foreign tourists would be shocked to learn that ivory trinkets on display in Thai shops may come from elephants massacred in Africa," said Sybille Klenzendorf, Director of Species Conservation at WWF

Washington, DC (PRWEB) January 14, 2013

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) today launched a global petition asking Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to ban all ivory trade in Thailand in order to curb the illegal killing of African elephants. Massive quantities of African ivory are being laundered through shops in Thailand and fuelling the elephant poaching crisis, WWF said. As Thailand prepares to host the world’s largest conference on wildlife trade (CITES) in March, WWF is calling on Prime Minister Shinawatra to use the opportunity to announce her country’s commitment to banning ivory trade.

Although it is against the law to sell ivory from African elephants in Thailand, ivory from domestic Thai elephants can be sold legally. Criminal networks are exploiting this legal loophole and flooding Thai shops with ivory from Africa.

“Existing laws are not effective at keeping illegal African ivory out of the Thai market. The only way to prevent Thailand from contributing to elephant poaching is to ban all ivory sales,” said Janpai Ongsiriwittaya, campaign leader in WWF-Thailand. “Today the biggest victims are African elephants, but Thailand’s elephants could be next. Ms. Shinawatra can help put an end to the killing, and I believe Thai citizens will support greater protection for these iconic animals.”

Poaching is at record levels in Africa with tens of thousands of elephants being slaughtered each year for their ivory tusks. Trade data released last month shows that international ivory trafficking has reached its highest ever recorded rate. Thailand is the biggest unregulated ivory market in the world and a top driver of poaching and illegal trade, according to a comprehensive analysis of global ivory seizures.

“Thailand’s legal allowance of trade in ivory tusks from domesticated Asian elephants is exploited to market African elephant ivory as worked products through hundreds of retail outlets,” according to the 2012 report of the Elephant Trade Information System.

“I’m sure many foreign tourists would be shocked to learn that ivory trinkets on display in Thai shops may come from elephants massacred in Africa,” said Sybille Klenzendorf, Director of Species Conservation at WWF. “These items are illegal to bring into the United States and we have to find a way to get them off store shelves and out of the hands of unsuspecting tourists.”

In March, representatives from 176 governments will meet in Bangkok for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to discuss global wildlife trade issues, including rampant elephant poaching in Africa.

WWF has launched a global campaign to address the major issues behind the surge in poaching and illegal trade in wildlife parts. For more information, go to: worldwildlife.org/wildlifecrime.

###

Editor’s notes:

• From January 15 to March 14, supporters can sign the petition at http://www.worldwildlife.org/ban
• A media photo album is available here: https://photos.panda.org/gpn/external?albumId=4359
• The Elephant Trade Information System is operated by TRAFFIC, a strategic partnership of WWF and IUCN.

ABOUT WWF:

WWF is the world’s leading conservation organization, working in 100 countries for half a century. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, halt the degradation of the environment and combat climate change. Visit WWF - Endangered Species Conservation | World Wildlife Fund to learn more.

[StrontiumDog]

Yingluck pressed to ban ivory trade | Bangkok Post: breakingnews

Yingluck pressed to ban ivory trade

• Published: 15 Jan 2013 at 07.28
• Online news:

WASHINGTON - World Wildlife Fund (WWF) launched a global petition Monday that puts responsibility for African elephant poaching on Thailand.


Customs Department chief Prasong Poonthanes examines African ivory tusks which were seized at the cargo terminal at Suvarnabhumi airport last January. (Photo by Somchai Poomlard)

The fund announced a worldwide petition demanding that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra ban the ivory trade in Thailand.

It said Ms Yingluck should use the upcoming international conference on wildlife trade in March to stop the local trade of ivory from Thai elephants.



The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will be held at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre March 3-14. Ms Yingluck

While Thai law forbids trade in ivory from African elephants, "Criminal networks are exploiting this legal loophole and flooding Thai shops with ivory from Africa," a statement from WWF claimed.

"The only way to prevent Thailand from contributing to elephant poaching is to ban all ivory sales," said Janpai Ongsiriwittaya, campaign leader in WWF-Thailand.

The online petition at www.worldwildlife.org/ban contains a short, form letter to the prime minister which says that "Thailand's elephants could be next" and urges her:

"You can save them. We urge you to ban all ivory trade in Thailand to give elephants their best chance of survival."

Seizures by Thai customs of illegal ivory from Africa reached a record at Suvarnabhumi airport last year. Most of the illegal ivory is worked by Thai artisans, and re-exported, mostly to China.

[StrontiumDog]

Thailand at the centre of rising illegal ivory trade | Bangkok Post: news

Thailand at the centre of rising illegal ivory trade

A new report detailing the slaughter of African elephants to supply increasingly sophisticated smuggling gangs has led critics to charge that flaws in the country's policy on domesticated elephants help to fuel the bloody business

• Published: 13 Jan 2013 at 00.00
• Newspaper section: Spectrum

'They are all authentic elephant ivory,'' a middle-aged retailer of crafted ivory ornaments told a group of visitors at her shop in Nakhon Sawan's Phayuha Khiri district last week.


INFAMY AND IVORY: Above, a retailer shows a carved ivory ornament in a shop in Phayuha Khiri district in Nakhon Sawan. Above right, police occasionally conduct checks for illegal ivory on shops in Phayuha Khiri, but African ivory is difficult to distinguish from the domestic variety without DNA testing.

In the shop, which has been selling talismans and ornaments for many years along with more than 10 similar shops in the area, the ivory baubles are placed in one corner of a showcase. Most of the items for sale are crafts made from the parts of other animals, but the display is a stark reminder that the ivory trade continues in Thailand, although it is low profile. The retailer was hesitant to reveal where the ivory came from.
However, her son, who is the main craftsman at the shop, insisted that the ivory comes only from registered domestic elephants.

''You see we have a registration certificate over there,'' said the man, pointing to a document from the Commerce Ministry saying that the shop has permission to sell products made from registered domestic elephants.

Be that as it may, such shops in Phayuha Khiri district have in the past been accused of involvement in the trade of ivory taken from African elephants, with ivory seizures not uncommon. The processing and sales of African elephant ivory and other parts are banned under the international agreement known as Cites (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

African elephants are listed under Appendix 1 of the convention, meaning live elephants as well as their parts cannot be sold internationally. Nevertheless, the trade continues, and a new report from Cites' standing subcommittee says it is on the rise. The trend has prompted concerns for the elephant population in several African countries, especially as the criminal gangs responsible have become more sophisticated.



Detection and prosecution are more elusive with the involvement of organised crime syndicates and guerrilla groups in Africa.

Thailand's loose controls over domestic processing and elephant ivory trade have been severely criticised by conservation groups who claim that the current regulations provide a ''loophole'' for the smuggling and illegal trade of elephant parts. As a result, critics say, the slaughter of African elephants in recent years has been increasing in recent years.

Petch Manopawitr, WWF Thailand programme manager, said: ''I think we have to accept that we are part of the problem _ the killing of African elephants. We are being watched by the international community, but hardly any progress has been made so far to close loopholes.''

To accomplish this, he added, elephant supervision must fall under the purview of a single body and an overhaul of relevant laws and regulations is needed.

TRADITION UNDER FIRE

Thi Sangworali, leader of a club of ivory crafters in Phayuha Khiri district, said residents there have a long history of trading and processing ivory that can be traced back at least 50 years.

The tradition started with monks who carved ivory into talismans, which they believed would possess great power as elephants are respected animals in Thai culture. Their skills were passed on to people who studied in the temples, and Phayuha Khiri became the centre of the ivory trade in the country.

Initially, Mr Thi said, carvers would seek ivory from domesticated elephants. The sale of live domesticated elephants and their parts is not banned under the Interior Ministry's Transport Animals Act, as it is for wild elephants. Mr Thi said elephant caretakers would take tusks from either live or dead elephants, cut them into pieces and sell them to the carvers.


MISSION TO SAVE: Petch Manopawitr, the WWF Thailand programme manager, says stopping the illegal ivory trade is more urgent than ever.

This began to change around the time Thailand signed Cites and improved its wildlife protection law in 1992. Although there were still no provisions prohibiting the trade in domesticated elephants, changing attitudes acted to discourage it. Shortly afterward, elephant tusks from foreign sources started to flood in. The carvers knew their origins, said Mr Thi, but were usually unaware that they were prohibited under Cites. Awareness increased, however, after some traders were arrested starting in 2002 and their ivory was seized.

After the authorities began to crack down, an underground trade began to take shape, said Mr Thi. Under pressure to uphold Cites, Thai authorities came up with more stringent measures to control the trade and processing of elephant ivory. These included the requirement under the Commercial Registration Act that retailers and producers of elephant ivory items must register and be able to produce records of their sales and stocks.

The National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation Department is now considering listing African Elephants as a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act.

REPORT SENDS OUT A WARNING

Despite efforts to stem the flow of African elephant tusks into the country, Thailand is consistently named by conservation groups as a top destination, as is China.

A report submitted before the Cites standing committee in the middle of last year, titled ''Elephant Conservation, Illegal Killing and Ivory Trade'', paints a bleak picture of the plight of African elephants.

The report was compiled from Cites-authorised databases including Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants and Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), and presents data showing a correlation between the illegal trade in African elephant parts and the slaughter of the animals.


THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG: Below, customs officers dIsplay two tonnes of African elephant tusks seized at Suvarnabhumi airport, valued at 120 million baht.

The report says that from 1989 until April, 2012, there were 17,757 seizures of elephant products from 88 countries, 15,936 of these were ivory seizures totalling 395,990kg. The report notes that in China there has been a steady increase in the wholesale price paid by carvers and processors for raw ivory, roughly doubling between 2002 and 2004 from around US$150 to $350 per kg. Between 2004 and 2010 the price increased to $750 per kilogramme reflecting increased demand.

There were 31 large-scale ivory seizures from 1989 to 1999, and 54 large-scale seizures from 2000 to April of last year. This amounts to around 4.5 seizures per year, but in 2011 the number of seizures was in the double digits _ 14, totalling 24.3 tonnes _ for the first time in the 23 years Cites has been keeping records.

The seizures no doubt represent a small fraction of the actual volume of trade in illegal ivory. ''How many such consignments are able to reach their final destination without detection remains unknown, but it is certain that ivory is being smuggled successfully,'' the report said.

Thai authorities have made more seizures than any other Asian countries in the last three years, with six large-scale seizures of about 8.3 tonnes in total.

The Cites standing committee report warned that the engagement of organised criminal syndicates in the illicit ivory trade between Africa and Asia was becoming increasingly more entrenched.

According to the report, large-scale ivory shipments are commonly sent from eastern African countries like Kenya and Tanzania and directed to Asian destinations. Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Hong Kong are believed to serve as the principal transit gateways for re-export onto China and Thailand.

Meanwhile, new trade routes through Cambodia and Laos are apparently emerging. In 2001 shipments seized in Kenya and Malaysia were reportedly destined for Cambodia, a country that the report said had never previously appeared in the ETIS database as a destination or transit country for large ivory shipments.

As the market for ivory in Cambodia appears to be small, it is believed that these shipments were destined to be transported overland to Thailand or China. ''The criminal syndicates behind these large movements of ivory are believed to be highly adaptive and the emergence of new trade routes in the ETIS data is likely to be evidence of evolving tactics,'' says the report.

It seems intuitive that increased trade in ivory through organised syndicates translates into more elephants lying dead in the plains of Africa.

Last year, 1,408 new carcasses were reported from 37 sites in Africa. Questionnaires were sent out by elephant conservation networks on poaching levels across Africa covering 29 sites in 12 countries. An increase in poaching over the last 12 months was reported in 19 sites in nine countries, the report said.

''The rise in levels of illegal killing and the dynamics surrounding it are worrying, not only for small and fragmented elephant populations that could face extirpation, but also for previously secure large populations,'' says the report. ''Conflict situations are known to deteriorate further the poor protection afforded to elephants and this is of concern in particular for areas with emerging and ongoing instability.

''At a minimum,'' the report continues, ''armed conflict hampers monitoring activities.''

SYSTEM RIPE FOR ABUSE

While there is little hard evidence linking the fates of African elephants to Thailand's elephant ivory processing and trade hub at Phayuha Khiri, conservationists remain suspicious. Ivory crafter Mr Thi does not rule out the underground trade and smuggling of African elephant ivory in domestic markets, considering the enormous potential profits. One kilogramme of domestic ivory can fetch about 40,000 baht. When carved into decorative items, the value skyrockets. One ivory ring, for example, costs about 5,000 baht.

Mr Thi dismissed allegations that pieces crafted from smuggled ivory are mixed with registered domestic ivory, but admitted that it is virtually impossible to determine origin without DNA testing.

He said registered shops buy registered elephant ivory with the proper certification. However, he could not guarantee that such certification wasn't sometimes forged. There have been allegations that some shops knowingly buy ivory for which the certification has been forged.

Mr Manopawitr, the WWF Thailand programme manager, said some people may view the smuggling and illegal trade in elephant ivory as just ''the same old problem'', but that in recent years a worrying trend has emerged that makes addressing it all the more urgent.

Mr Petch echoed the Cites standing committee report's statements that not only are African elephants being killed in large numbers, but the killing has become more sophisticated and organised. Last year, WWF documented cases in Cameroon in which heavy weapons were used to kill hundreds of elephants. Mr Petch said such incidents are undeniably linked to the illegal ivory trade. He added that although Thai businesses claim to use only parts from local domesticated elephants, the management of these elephants itself provides a loophole for the exploitation of African elephants.

Even though domestic elephants are certified, he continued, data collection and monitoring is weak, complicating the verification of registered animals. Also of concern is the lack of integration in the management of domestic elephants, as each agency has only limited authority to oversee particular areas. For example, the National Parks Department oversees only wild elephants, while the Commerce Ministry deals with the trade in domesticated elephants.

This division of oversight authority, combined with the difficulty in differentiating between parts from various elephant species, helps facilitate the illegal trade in African ivory in Thailand, said Mr Petch.

WWF and allied organisations are planning to file a global petition calling on a ban on ivory from African elephants. Mr Petch said this should not adversely affect law-abiding ivory retailers in Thailand and would actually benefit the local industry as it would provide a means of clearing operators from allegations of wrongdoing.

Thanawat Thongtan, acting director of the National Parks Department's Wild Fauna and Flora Protection Division, admitted that the international community is keeping an eye on Thailand because of widespread accusations it is at the centre of the trade in African elephant tusks. He also agreed that there is a flaw in the system of supervising elephants and their parts in Thailand because of a lack of cross-agency integration. But he said, the country has attempted to address the problem by strengthening relevant laws and regulations and implementing more stringent controls on the domestic trade, including registration of retail shops and registration of domestic elephants and tusks.

He agreed that an integrated system for the management of Thai elephants is needed, but wasn't optimistic this would be accomplished in the near future. ''We will tell them again at the coming Cites meeting in Thailand that we have tried our best, but as it involves several agencies, we need time,'' said Mr Thanawat.


A TUSK TASK: Above and left, many domesticated elephants are raised by private operators who then cut their tusks for sale. They are supposed to be registered with the Interior Ministry, but often their origins cannot be traced, complicating verification.


CARVING OUT CONTROVERSY: Above left and right, these authentic carved ivory ornaments are among many for sale at retail shops in Phayuha Khiri.


IVORY ALLEY: This stretch of road in Nakhon Sawan’s Phayuha Khiri district is known for having several shops that sell crafted ivory items.

[poorfalang]

What am i gonna use to make me guitar nuts and fret dots from,

dont want no plastic, or cow bone

[StrontiumDog]

Thailand may face heat over ivory trade business at endangered species conference - The Washington Post

Thailand may face heat over ivory trade business at endangered species conference

By Darryl Fears,
Thursday, January 17, 9:23 AM

It was a professional hit, the quick and ruthless slaying of a family of 12. Poachers with machetes hacked off the tusks of 11 African elephants on Jan. 5 in a Kenyan reserve, passing over a baby that was crushed by its mother after a gunshot felled her.

The same day, customs officials in Hong Kong seized more than 770 tusks, weighing more than a ton and valued at more than $1 million, according to Born Free USA, a group that tracks poaching and government seizures.

The United Nations banned the ivory trade in 1989 but created exceptions that allowed African nations with stockpiles of seized ivory, or ivory removed from beasts that died naturally, to sell it legally. That gave poachers and crime syndicates an opportunity to sneak illegal ivory into the legal stockpile through a back door, critics said. Ivory can fetch about $1,000 per pound.

The highest amount of illegal ivory on the world market in the decade the trade has been tracked was about 40 tons, recorded in 2011. Last year’s numbers are not yet available.

Elephants and their ivory are expected to grab a large share of the spotlight at the March conference in Bangkok of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. And Thailand will be a major focus.

“Thailand has been an issue for a number of years,” said Leigh Henry, senior policy adviser for species conservation at the World Wildlife Fund. At issue is not so much that Thailand allows domestic ivory from captive Asian elephants to be sold, providing material for the country’s traditional carvers. It is that WWF and other groups around the world believe Thailand’s legal trade gives cover to an illegal trade in ivory from wild African elephants.

The WWF launched a petition this week to pressure Thailand to ban its legal domestic trade of elephant ivory, and made note of the January slaughter in Kenya, the worst in the nation’s 30 years of record keeping.

Thai lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to tighten rules on the domestic trade, and now conservationists say they are fed up. They will ask European and U.S. delegates from agencies such as the State Department and Fish and Wildlife Service to recommend a suspension of trade that would cut off Thailand from a lucrative trade in reptiles, birds and flowers, as well as animal skins, if the country fails to act right away.

Thailand is second only to China in the trade of meticulously carved ivory ornaments, supporting the poaching boom, conservationists argue. Thailand, host of the convention’s 16th Conference of the Parties that represents about 175 nations including the United States, “will now have their feet held to the fire,” Henry said.

That is easier said than done. At the meeting — where delegates from Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States will review the multibillion-dollar trade of wildlife, and debate whether to impose regulations for the animals’ and plant life’s conservation — some delegates are expected to lobby fiercely against new regulations on everything from sharks to orchids.

[Fluke]

Isnt it already banned?

[Fluke]

Thought that there was a world wide ban

[Hypatia]

methinks a convention and then a night at Soi Cowboy is in order to get WWF back in line. TiT and it doesn't have to adhere to pesky international agreements or even common decency cause it has all the pussy.

[Bower]

The Thai government must have been well aware this ban would be called for before they agreed/offered to host this event.

[Bower]

Thought that there was a world wide ban

Not signed up to by every country.
Trade, export/import of all ivory is banned into the UK, unless proven to be pre 1947.
Pre 1947 ivory that has been re-worked is also banned.

[StrontiumDog]

DiCaprio calls for Thai govt and Yingluck to ban ivory trade - The Nation

DiCaprio calls for Thai govt and Yingluck to ban ivory trade

Agencies February 19, 2013 2:44 pm

File photo : DiCaprio

Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio has called for Thailand and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to show leadership on elephant conservation by banning all ivory trade in Thailand.

Illegal wildlife trade is the most urgent threat facing species like tigers, rhinos and elephants. These animals are being killed every day to feed an escalating demand for their body parts," DiCaprio said.

DiCaprio, 38, sent a personal e-mail to urge the public to join the initiative, which includes spreading the word and signing a global petition calling on Yingluck Shinawatra to ban all ivory trade in Thailand. He is helping launch the World Wildlife Fund's new animal rights campaign, the "Hands off My Parts" initiative.

"Whole populations are at risk of being wiped out if we don’t take immediate action to shut down this illicit trade. As a key step, I am joining WWF and others in calling on Thailand's government to show leadership on elephant conservation by shutting down its ivory market before the country hosts a meeting of 177 nations on wildlife trade in March 2013."

The campaign aims to raise awareness about the rhinos, tigers and elephants that are being killed for their skins, bones, tusks, horns and other body parts.

The actor, who has announced a break from acting, and other celebrity animal rights activists such as Emily VanCamp, Josh Bowman, Stacy Keibler, Alyssa Milano, Ian Somerhalder and Ethan Suplee have banded together to urge immediate action on illegal wildlife trade.

The superstar announced in late January he was taking a break from acting.

"I'm a little bit drained," he told the German newspaper Bild. "I am now going to take a long, long break."

After doing three films — "Django Unchained," "The Great Gatsby" and the recently finished "The Wolf of Wall Street" — in two years, DiCaprio says he's "just worn out".

Publicity tours for the films still loom, but DiCaprio has other plans for when his schedule slows down.

"I would like to improve the world a bit," he said. "I will fly around the world doing good for the environment."

[Zooheekock]

I will fly around the world doing good for the environment.

Hmm. Something a little awry in that sentence.

Anyway, this would be more at home in one of the innumerable Thai's-dont-unnerstand-Budhuism-like-wot-I-do threads - it's just another of the secular indulgences which are so perennially attractive to the rich and shameless.

[kmart]

^At least he ain't a Scientologist?

[The Fresh Prince]

He should really travel by more environmentally friendly transport other than flying.

[piwanoi]

Well as conservation is one of my concerns ,I reckon any one Whoever they are who draws attention to the unabated slaughter of indigenous species in Thailand such as the Pangolin and rare reptiles,were they are being smuggled out of the Country to satisfy the palates of exotic animal consumers in fancy eating places in Hong kong , Taiwan, and China is doing some good in drawing it to peoples attention.

[piwanoi]

He should really travel by more environmentally friendly transport other than flying.

One more passenger on a plane ain't going to make any difference to the ozone is it

[The Fresh Prince]

He's probably got his own plane.

[the dogcatcher]

Perhaps he could concern himself more with perhaps... errmmm... let's see ermmm..... human trafficing, child prostitution and other more pressing issues.
I think even Yinluck does that. Not forgeting to line her brothers pockets in the process of course.

[The Fresh Prince]

It is probably a good idea to ban it before the country hosts a meeting on the wildlife trade though.

[billy the kid]

it's worth it's weight in GOLD
so asking the Thai's to ban it will get a few belly laughs from the backroom boys.

[piwanoi]

He's probably got his own plane.

Of Course you have probably got firm evidence on this totally unsubstantiated claim , this not with standing ,if you disagree with De Caprio's attempt to stop the whole sale slaughter of Elephants to bring it to the world,s attention that this is morally wrong just to satisfy the ultra rich with a few Ivory Trinkets by all means say so, and with respect I think your reply to such an Important issue as this is truly pathetic , so sad ,so sad!

[draco888]

Should get on a bicycle. May lose a few pounds as well.

He should really travel by more environmentally friendly transport other than flying.

[piwanoi]

This Guy De Caprio is trying to bring it to the worlds attention of the endless slaughter of the worlds Elephants for the Ivory trade and all some can do is remark on what mode of transport he uses to spread this message depicted in this CNN article , you lot should hang your head in shame Booming illegal ivory trade taking severe toll on Africa's elephants, groups say - CNN.com

[draco888]

[edit]Elephants
In Western societies, elephants have often been associated with circuses and used for entertaining purposes. However, in Central and West Africa, elephants are hunted for their meat.[40] Some people in Thailand also believe that eating elephant meat improves their sex lives and elephants are sometimes hunted specifically for this.

Elephant burger anyone?