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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:07 pm
Time: 9:07 pm
Results for wildlife crimes (thailand)
1 results foundAuthor: Doak, Naomi Title: Polishing Off the Ivory: Surveys of Thailand's Ivory Market Summary: Elephants are revered in Thailand and, as an important part of the country's identity, they are an integral part of Thai beliefs and culture. However, despite this, Thailand has one of the world's largest unregulated ivory markets and is consistently highlighted as one of the most problematic countries in the illegal ivory trade. Partly to blame for the current poaching crisis is Thai domestic legislation that permits trade in ivory from domesticated Asian Elephants but provides no effective mechanism or legal framework for the internal regulation of this market nor for the control of the illegal trade in ivory from either wild Asian Elephants Elephas maximus or African Elephants Loxodonta africana. Recent surveys of retail outlets across key locations in Bangkok have revealed a disturbing increase both in the number of retail outlets offering ivory as well as the quantity of ivory available. Surveys of known ivory retail outlets were carried out on a monthly basis from January-April 2013 and October 2013-May 2014. The type and number of ivory items seen for sale were recorded. Retail outlets, including those newly identified and those that only began stocking ivory during the survey period, were repeatedly revisited on subsequent surveys. In January 2013, 61 retail outlets selling ivory were found in key previously-identified locations around Bangkok while less than 12 months later, in December 2013, this figure had increased to 105 retail outlets in the same locations. During this period, the number of individual ivory pieces almost trebled, from 5,715 to 14,512, indicating a growing market and considerably exceeding what could be produced by ivory from the current domesticated elephant population. There are approximately 1,230 adult male captive elephants in Thailand and it is estimated that they could only yield approximately 650 kg of ivory annually, possibly less and typically in small sized pieces owing to the periodic trimming of tusks. This quantity is considerably less than what was observed in Bangkok markets. In addition, the number and size of specific products indicates that larger sized elephant tusks are reaching the market in Thailand and seizure data confirms attempts to move large quantities of African Elephant ivory to Thailand from Africa. Additional retail outlets, including newly established ivory outlets, were recorded in every month of the survey, despite a requirement for registration and monitoring of any retail outlet selling or processing ivory under current legislation (Commercial Registration Act of 1956). These findings are indicative of a lack of implementation of Thailand's CITES Ivory Trade Action Plan, which was drawn up to meet recommendations from the 64th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee. Indeed, the actions outlined in that plan do not appear to be having any impact on the domestic ivory market in Bangkok. The ivory market in Thailand is still thriving and remains one of the largest and most active worldwide, with high turnover of stock and continued sales to foreign tourists. Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC International, 2014. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 22, 2014 at: http://www.traffic.org/storage/Thailand-market-survey-report.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Thailand URL: http://www.traffic.org/storage/Thailand-market-survey-report.pdf Shelf Number: 132727 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal MarketsIllegal TradeIvoryWildlife Crimes (Thailand) |