Staff Writer, AFP and Reuters
MORE than three tons of elephant ivory have been found at a Thai port, stashed in a container shipped from Kenya – the second big haul of tusks from Africa in less than a week.
The ivory, worth millions of dollars on the black market, was destined for Laos, increasingly being used as a transit point for illicit ivory and other wildlife products.
The 511 pieces of ivory were found on Saturday in a container marked as tea leaves, being shipped from Mombasa to Laos, Thai customs said in a statement.
The authorities believe that once the ivory arrived in Laos, it was likely to be sold to buyers from China, Vietnam or Thailand, all with lucrative markets for ivory ornaments.
This comes after four tons of ivory were seized at Bangkok’s main port on April 20, in a container from the Democratic Republic of Congo, also destined for Laos.
The shipment contained 739 tusks hidden in bags of dried beans – representing the death of at least 369 elephants.
The seizures come as Thailand is under pressure to crack down on its illegal ivory trade. Thailand was given until the end of last month to take measures to shut down domestic trade in ivory or face sanctions under the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (Cites).
Sanctions could have an impact on its trade in ornamental plants such as orchids.
China announced a year’s ban on the import of African ivory carvings in February, ahead of a visit by Britain’s Prince William, a critic of the illegal wildlife trade and its “ruthless” traffickers.
In January, Thailand passed new legislation prohibiting possession of African ivory for sale.
Cites estimates more than 20 000 African elephants were killed for ivory in 2013, leaving about 500 000 animals.
Chris Shepherd of Traffic, the international network that monitors the illegal wildlife trade, said the increase in large-scale seizures was of great concern.
“Whether the ivory is coming from freshly killed elephants, or from stockpiles of ivory in Africa, needs to be investigated,” he said.
South Africa has not yet been targeted by elephant poachers. However, as populations to the north are depleted, it is likely to become a target.
SANParks anti-poaching strategist Major-General Johan Jooste said in a briefing on rhino poaching last week: “This has gone too far. We must not allow this to happen with elephants.”
Thailand’s fishing industry is also under scrutiny for exploitation of migrant workers and over-fishing.
This month the EU threatened to ban Thai fish imports unless the country did more to halt illegal fishing. Thailand is the world’s third-largest seafood producer and an EU ban could cost it around $1 billion (R12bn).