Kenya Prepares to Butn Ivory to Protect Elephants

Wildlife officers in Kenya started stacking 105 tons of ivory and 1 ton of rhino horns in order to make towers that they can set on fire and burn. This is scheduled for the end of the month on April 30th, and is meant to encourage the global efforts of stopping elephant and rhino poaching. Many journalists and media spokespeople came to witness the unloading of 11 shipping containers that held tons of ivory from the Kenyan stockpiles. A Kenyan Wildlife Director said that elephants have a real threat of becoming extinct within the next 50 years due to serious poaching that's being bankrolled by the illegal trade of ivory around the world, hence why they are taking a dramatic action against preventing further poaching. Another Wildlife Director continued to say that ivory is not used in other countries for any medicinal or important means; therefore saying ivory is more useful to the animals themselves than it is to humans. Some opponents say that instead of burning it and effectively destroying it, the Kenyans could fund the conservative efforts by selling the ivory stockpiles instead. However, the wildlife directors believe that this continued trade would still encourage the poaching of rhinos and elephants around the world. They say this solution would be ineffective and the animal populations would still be decimating over time. They believe these animals should be cherished and given a second chance at survival and reproduction, rather than getting killed off simply so we can use them for our menial desires such as making pretty bangles.


Hailey Brzoska

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kenya-prepares-burn-ivory-protect-elephants-38541804