Issue Type: Rhino and Elephant Protection

Humane Society International / Japan

One year before the start of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games, international and Japanese conservation organizations are appealing to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike to ban the sale of ivory in the city. Japan boasts the world’s largest legal domestic ivory market, and its ongoing support for an industry that fuels the poaching of an estimated 20,000 African elephants each year threatens to tarnish the reputation of Tokyo and the 2020 Games.

The Environmental Investigation Agency US, Humane Society International, WildAid, Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund and Tears of the African Elephant urge the Governor to support international efforts to conserve and protect Africa’s rapidly declining elephant population by closing the ivory market in Tokyo prior to the start of the 2020 Games. The city is home to a significant proportion of Japan’s 17,000 registered ivory manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. With an estimated 10 million tourists expected to visit Tokyo for the games, there is a high risk that many visitors, either intentionally or unknowingly, will buy and illegally export ivory souvenirs from these shops.

In May, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio appealed to Governor Koike to follow New York’s lead and ban the city’s ivory trade. Thirty-seven members ofthe U.S. House of Representatives also appealed to the Government of Japan to join other nations that have committed to closing ivory markets in a letter they sent via Ambassador Shinsuke J. Sugiyama. In addition, on their own initiative, many private companies including Rakuten, AEON, Ito Yokado, Mercari, Inc., Amazon Japan and Google Shopping Japan have ceased ivory sales or have announced their intention to do so before the Games begin.

Despite evidence of ongoing illegal trade that exploits loopholes in Japan’s regulations, its government has continued to support the domestic ivory trade. This position threatens to undermine bans in other jurisdictions like China, the United States and the United Kingdom. In China, officials have been ramping up their efforts and have seized an increasing number of shipments of ivory from Japan, making it clear that Japan’s domestic market is contributing to illegal international trade. There have been more than 20 seizures of ivory from Japan so far in 2019.

Japan’s ivory trade will face increased scrutiny at the 18thmeeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), in Geneva, Switzerland next month. The 32 African nations that comprise the African Elephant Coalition are urging Japan and the European Union to close their ivory markets.

Allan Thornton, president of EIA US, said, “Japan’s hold on its domestic ivory trade has the potential to divide nations just as the world comes together for the Olympics. We strongly urge the Government of Japan to close its domestic ivory market and let the global community know it cares about Africa’s iconic elephants.”

Iris Ho, senior specialist for wildlife programs and policy for Humane Society International, said, “There is no better opportunity than the 2020 Summer Games to showcase Japan’s commitment to environmental sustainability, a key theme of the Games. We urge the Japanese government to protect one of the planet’s keystone species by shutting down its ivory market–the largest remaining in the world.”

Masayuki Sakamoto, executive director of the Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund, said“Japan’s domestic ivory market is not only the largest legal market, but also the most open and poorly regulated one. Ivory hanko and wide variety of other ivory products are freely sold on the street and online. None of them can be identified as derived from ivory legally imported before the international ban. Even worse, those ivory products are being produced on daily basis. This market provides a quite useful ‘cover’ for smuggled ivory items as well as an easy place for buying ivory to be illegally exported abroad.”

Findings reveal the need for a local law in the District

Humane Society International / United States

WASHINGTON – Today the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International released findings of an undercover investigation revealing a lucrative ivory trade in the nation’s capital, where ivory dealers take advantage of the lack of local laws banning the sale of ivory. Legislation has been introduced in the Council of the District of Columbia that would prohibit sales of certain ivory products as well as those made from rhino horn within the District.

From April to July 2019, investigators found ivory products for sale at L’Enfant Gallery, Capital Antiques, Frank Milwee Antiques, Mercedes Bien Vintage and by two vendors at the Georgetown Flea Market. Most of the ivory sellers were unable to produce documentation verifying the age or origin of the ivory when asked by the investigator. Without documentation, it is impossible to know whether items were imported in violation of federal law, which prohibits imports or interstate sales of ivory from recently killed elephants. Under federal law, sellers are responsible for demonstrating through documentation that items were lawfully imported.

An investigator observed that L’Enfant Gallery displayed the most elaborate and expensive ivory pieces the investigator had seen in years of investigating ivory sales across the United States.

Among the ivory items found for sale during this investigation: a full elephant tusk, $600,000; a multi-figurine game board, $48,000; carved horse-drawn chariots, $12,000; and various figurines and jewelries, ranging from $150 to $18,000.

Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States and president of Humane Society International, said, “The trade in ivory contributes to a devastating decline in elephant populations. It is distressing that ivory sales are occurring right here in my hometown of Washington, D.C., where our federal government has unequivocally condemned the international trade in ivory from recently poached elephants. The Council of the District of Columbia must act to pass legislation that will protect imperiled elephants and rhinos by removing the financial incentives to kill them and trade in their parts. Washington D.C. should no longer condone a trade that decimates Earth’s iconic species.”

Councilmember Mary M. Cheh said: “I have introduced the Elephant Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Trafficking Prohibition Act on three separate occasions. Perhaps if an earlier iteration of this legislation had passed back in 2015 when it was first introduced, the ivory market would not have moved to the District of Columbia at all. Nevertheless, we must not sit passively while the ivory market thrives in the District. Limiting the demand for ivory and horns is key to stopping the unnecessary and inhumane slaughter of these animals —and we cannot wait.”

Facts

  • The illegal wildlife trade is a multibillion-dollar global industry that affects millions of animals and communities around the world. Wild animals such as elephants and rhinos are killed in massive numbers and suffer from horrific cruelty. Poachers brutally kill elephants and harvest their tusks, sometimes while the animal is still alive.
  • The African savanna elephant population has declined by 144,000 – 30% of the population – since 2007, primarily because of poaching. More than 1,000 rhinos were poached in Africa in 2018, out of 29,0000 rhinos remaining worldwide.
  • The legal market for ivory products provides a cover for illegal ivory products to flourish because of the ease of mixing the two. Enforcement efforts are often hampered by a lack of resources or the difficulty of visually distinguishing illegal ivory from legally acquired ivory.
  • The greater Washington, D.C., area is likely the largest remaining metropolitan market for ivory products in the United States, according to a 2017 report by the wildlife trade monitoring organization, TRAFFIC.
  • A 2015 report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare of the U.S. ivory market that surveyed Craigslist listings identified Washington, D.C., as one of the top five markets among all locations surveyed.
  • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service instituted a near-total ban on importing or engaging in the interstate sale of African elephant ivory in 2016. However, federal regulations do not address intrastate trade in African elephant ivory. U.S. states and the District of Columbia must do their part to ensure that their laws sufficiently protect at-risk animals.
  • California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, New Hampshire, Illinois and Minnesota have passed anti-wildlife trafficking laws that are similar to the legislation that the HSUS and HSI support in Washington, D.C. Voters in Oregon and Washington approved statewide ballot measures on the issue by 70-30 margins in both states.
  • Last Council Period, the Council of the District of Columbia’s Judiciary and Public Safety committee chaired by Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen heard public testimony on a previous version of this legislation but failed to advance the bill out of committee before the end of the Council Period.

Full investigation report.

Photos and video of the investigation.

Media contact: Rodi Rosensweig, 203/270-8929, RRosensweig@humanesociety.org

108 baby elephants sold by Zimbabwe to zoos overseas since 2012

Humane Society International / United Kingdom

Baby elephantsOscar Nkala

LONDON—The Zimbabwe Elephant Foundation will be joined on Friday 24th May by international NGOs, as well as actor and conservationist Dan Richardson, in a silent protest outside the Chinese Embassy against the exploitative export of wild-caught baby elephants from Zimbabwe to foreign destinations, mainly zoos in China. Humane Society International, Animal Defenders International, Action for Elephants UK and the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting will stand in solidarity with protest organiser and ZEF founder and director Mrs Nomusa Dube to shine a spotlight on the abusive practice that sees elephants as young as two years old being stolen from their mothers for lucrative export to foreign zoos.

According to trade data of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Zimbabwe has exported 108 young elephants to zoos in China and the UAE since 2012. Humane Society International has vocally opposed this trade for a number of years. Heart-breaking footage released by HSI and others has shown 14 elephant calves being kicked and beaten during the capture process in 2017 and 35 young elephants in 2019 pacing their pens in Hwange National Park, showing signs of stress and demonstrating wide-eyed, ear-splayed defensive postures as they await export to foreign lands. In 2016, Zimbabwe exported 35 baby elephants to Chinese zoos. One of the elephants died during transit or after arrival. Photos of the few surviving baby elephants, standing alone in dark, barren cells, were shocking.

These captures have sparked outrage from other African countries. In February this year, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Tourism & Wildlife, The Honourable Najib Balala remarked, “Trade in live elephants should only be for the purpose of enhancing the conservation of the species in its natural habitats (in-situ) as the only appropriate and acceptable destination.” The African Elephant Coalition, an alliance of 32 African countries, has also called for an end to the export of wild elephants to zoos and other captive facilities. And in March 2019 the People and Earth Solidarity Law Network, together with seven Zimbabwean NGOs, submitted a petition to the Zimbabwean Parliament calling for a ban on the export of young elephants and improvements to the welfare of wildlife in Zimbabwe.

Protest organiser, Nomusa Dube of the Zimbabwe Elephant Foundation said: “What China needs to understand is that not everything in Africa is for sale.”

Mrs Dube wrote an open letter to Zimbabwe’s President Mnangagwa, which reads: “Seeing the wildlife as something which can be uplifted and sold like a ripe fruit off a tree into a terrifying chasm. In the chasm lies an insatiable demand for all wildlife and her products. So huge is this demand that we could sell or kill every single living thing in Zimbabwe, it would be like one drop of water going into an ocean…Zimbabwe’s Elephants are the jewels in her crown, do not sell them.”

Claire Bass, Executive Director of Humane Society International/UK, who will speak at the event after the silent protest, said: “The capture of baby elephants from the wild for sale into a lifetime of suffering in captivity is heart breaking and shameful. Video footage shows that these young elephants are already displaying stress behaviour after being ripped away from their mothers and bonded family group, and are likely terrified. In the wild, calves remain closely bonded to their natal family groups; females never leave their families whilst males only leave their herd at 12 – 15 years of age. Such callous disregard for the physical and emotional wellbeing of these highly intelligent and socially complex animals is utterly inexcusable and casts a sordid light over both Zimbabwe and China. South Africa has banned the capture of elephants from the wild for captivity, and we urge Zimbabwe to follow suit by stopping these vile exports immediately.”

The protest takes place on Friday 24th May 1.30-3.30pm at the Chinese Embassy, 49-51 Portland Place, London. Media wishing to speak with Noma Dube or Claire Bass prior to the protest can do so by contacting Wendy Higgins at whiggins@hsi.org

ENDS

Media contacts:

HSI/UK: Director of International Media Wendy Higgins, mobile +44 (0) 7989 972 423, whiggins@hsi.org

HSI/Africa: Media and Communications Outreach Manager Leozette Roode, mobile +2771 360 1004, lroode@hsi.org

Notes:

  • In collaboration with the AEC, Humane Society International co-authored a report highlighting the challenges that the live trade in elephants poses to the CITES regulations.
  • In January 2018, Humane Society International/Africa and 33 partners, submitted a letter to Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, pleading for a halt to the horrific abuse and practice of capturing elephants from the wild for captivity.

Letter from Mayor de Blasio reflects increasing concern about illegal elephant ivory entering the U.S. from the 2020 Summer Games

Humane Society International / United States

WASHINGTON—As athletes and organizers prepare for the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is asking Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike to support efforts to end the ivory trade in Japan, the largest ivory market in the world. Mayor de Blasio is among a growing group of world leaders and elected officials urging Japan to ban all ivory sales to combat the illegal ivory trade in advance of the 2020 Summer Games.

In a letter sent to Governor Koike on May 8, Mayor de Blasio wrote: “Sustainability is a key theme of next year’s games as reflected in the guiding principle: ‘Be better together – for the planet and the people.’….With millions of people traveling to Tokyo, many from countries with strict ivory regulations, tourists and participants may unknowingly engage in the illegal ivory trade by bringing home souvenirs that violate their local laws, causing undue distress and tarnishing their Olympic experience.”

New York City and Tokyo have shared close economic and cultural ties over the last few decades. New York state is one of nine U.S. states that prohibit the sale of ivory products, and the Big Apple has hosted two high-profile destructions of seized ivory — in Times Square in 2015 and in Central Park in 2017. In contrast, after China banned ivory in 2018, Japan became the world’s largest legal ivory market.

Iris Ho, senior specialist of wildlife programs and policy for Humane Society International, said, “The 2020 Summer Games present a critical opportunity for Japan to show itself as a responsible and reputable leader on the world stage. Without an ivory trade ban in place, the Tokyo Games are a transnational ivory trafficking disaster waiting to happen, offering millions of tourists easy access to illegal ivory souvenirs. We can ‘be better together – for the planet and the people’ when we choose elephants over the ivory trade.”

Brian Shapiro, New York senior state director for the Humane Society of the United States applauds this effort to seek great protection for elephants from the illegal ivory trade.

Masayuki Sakamoto, executive director of Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund, said, “In Japan, 80% of ivory is used for the mass production of hanko, or personal signature seals. Ivory is not a traditional material for hanko. There is no doubt that Tokyo residents will give a ringing endorsement to ban ivory sales in order to protect live elephants.”

Amy Zets Croke, senior policy analyst at the Environmental Investigation Agency, said, “Japan’s ivory trade stimulates demand and undercuts domestic ivory bans in the United States, China and elsewhere. To demonstrate real commitment to protecting Africa’s elephants, Japan must close its domestic ivory market before hosting millions of athletes and spectators from around the world during the 2020 Tokyo Games.”

In addition to the letter by Mayor de Blasio, on May 7, 37 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Ambassador Shinsuke J. Sugiyama asking the government of Japan to join the growing effort to close domestic ivory markets worldwide in order to conserve dwindling elephant populations. The letter was co-led by Reps. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., and Peter King, R-N.Y., and co-signers include chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.

Facts:

  • Japan has more than 16,000 registered ivory retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers.
  • From 2011 to 2016 more than two tons of ivory from Japan was confiscated by Chinese authorities.
  • Japan’s ivory market facilitates transnational ivory trafficking and undermines the enforcement efforts of neighboring China.
  • The African Elephant Coalition, representing 32 African nations including elephant range states, is appealing to Japan to close its domestic ivory market.
  • Many countries and jurisdictions have announced or implemented measures prohibiting or restricting domestic ivory trade, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Luxemburg, Belgium, China, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan.

For photos of elephants and the ivory trade click HERE.

 

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