Several days ago I sent off an email to Dr. Sam Wasser, the scientist from the University of Washington who devised the DNA testing of ivory to determine the region of its origin, inviting him to join us on bushdrums.
Despite the fact that he is currently out of the country helping to get information together for the CITES conference, he responded within about a half hour. I shall post his note below. More importantly, he gave me permission to copy and paste the information from his website for all conservation-minded people to read, study. and distribute. However, because it is done in Adobe I had trouble cutting and pasting. This I encourage each and every one of you to go to the website listed at the bottom of his note and click on the scientific papers. They are truly eye-openers.
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Dear Janet
Thank you for the note. Regrettably, there is no viable way to distinguish poached (or new) from unpoached (or old) ivory. A dye would have to penetrate the tusk, rendering them less valuable. Even it worked, others would get the dye and use it illegally, as they do everything else.
The problem now is that the demand for ivory is soaring due to a growing middle class in China and Japan, the price of high quality ivory has quadrupled in the last two year to $850/kg, and the law does not prevent any country from selling ivory within their country. It only prohibits international trade. So, the dealers merely have to get their stash to the country in which they wish to sell it. This is a very lucrative, relatively low risk endeavor for them, especially since none of the bigger dealers are ever prosecuted for their crimes.
In fact, these conditions have caused an unfortunate turn of events never seen before. Organized crime is now heavily involved in the trade, like never before. We can't fight such crime in our own country. So, how can we ever expect poor African nations to combat it? Commodity speculators are also jumping in the fray, buying up all the ivory they can as an investment.
The trade simply needs to stop completely for at least a while until we can get things back under control. Otherwise, elephants as we know them will be doomed. The trade must be stopped and remain so for many years. There really is no other way to do this realistically under the circumstances. Hence, Kenya's proposal to CITES for a 20 year moratorium on legal ivory trade.
I am currently at CITES testifying on the above issue. My hope is that we will be able to shut down the trade completely, for a long time.
Thanks for your interest. If you wish to explore our Center's work, please visit our webpage at the URL below.
Best wishes,
Sam
Samuel K. Wasser, Ph.D
Endowed Chair in Conservation Biology
Research Professor, Department of Biology, Box 351800
Director, Center for Conservation Biology
University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1800
Ph: 206-543-1669; FAX: 206-616-2011
