Zoo trade in baby elephants banned internationally - Cortney Ferretti

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Zoo trade in baby elephants banned internationally - BBC News

This past Tuesday, a near-total ban was placed on the trade of baby African elephants taken from the wild and sold to zoos. The European Union backed up the ban, however, Zimbabwe and the United States voted against the protection of the baby elephants.  In 2012, over 100 baby elephants were exported to Chinese zoos. After this near-total ban, these animals can only be taken from the wild for placement in “captive facilities” or exceptional circumstances. This ban does not eliminate every elephant from being captured and sold, but it helps prevent mass amounts of elephant exports.

The Humane Society International referred to this ban as a “momentous win”. While elephants are known to be highly sociable animals, this will eliminate many traumatizing instances of separation. During the convention, some African nations pushed for the re-opening of the ivory trade. Their reasoning behind this was to sell existing stock from the confiscated poachers or already-dead animals. Claims were made that the money from the currently stocked ivory could be used for conservation.  The re-opening of ivory trade concerns me because I believe it would open more space for illegal activity. People could kill elephants and claim that it was already in stock. 

Overall, I think the near-total ban of trading baby elephants is a step in the right direction. The elephant population needs to be conserved and respected. While this ban may hurt certain economies, I think the lives of elephants should be respected in a humane way.