Wildlife activists try to end ivory trade in Thailand

- Several wildlife activists launched the "Ivory Free Thailand" campaign here Monday in an attempt to end all ivory trade in the kingdom.

Two wildlife protection groups, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and WildAid, launched the campaign, calling on consumers to never buy, own or accept ivory as gifts.

Thailand's martial-art movie actor Tony Jaa, hired as a presenter for the cause, questioned how Thais would think ivory could have brought magic powers amongst purchasers when the elephants themselves are left dying and powerless under the gun shots of poachers.

A 2015 survey conducted by WildAid, African Wildlife Foundation and Save the Elephants said only about 52 percent of the Thai population is aware of the elephant poaching crisis in Africa, with 51 percent of the population being aware that the kingdom is one of the world's most destined market.

Last year, Thailand passed the Elephant Ivory Act to regulate the country's legal market in ivory from domestic elephants. The government has also prohibited the trade and sale of ivory from African elephants by enacting an amendment to the country's existing Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act, making African elephants a protected species in Thailand.

According to these groups, over 30,000 African elephants are poached each year just to satisfy consumer desire for their ivory.

"We are happy to see all the governments trying to end the wildlife trade. We only encourage more action and action here in Thailand for the government to move towards closing the market for ivory," said John Baker, managing director of WildAid.

Adopting their previous successful campaign against ivory trade in China, the two wildlife groups hope that Thailand will soon follow.

"The Chinese government is very serious about illegal trade and wildlife there (in China), enforcing it with a lot of interdiction. They've increased a lot of penalties for violations of the wildlife law and we know that the price of ivory has already dropped in the last 18 months by more than 50 percent," Baker said.

The WWF and WildAid hopes that campaigns like this will eventually bog down ivory trade, because when the buying stops, the killing stops

source : xinhua