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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Sep 30 2010 - 08:05:07 EDT
Traveler caught with 200 pounds of elephant ivory in four suitcases
Jeremy Hance <http://www.mongabay.com/jeremy_hance.html>
mongabay.com
September 30, 2010
Customs officials found 16 pieces of cut ivory on searching a 62-year-old
Malaysian man at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Thailand in August.
Recently released information shows that the traveler was carrying nearly
200 pounds (90 kilograms) of ivory in four suitcases after arriving from
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
"The Thai Royal Customs is committed to taking strong measures to ensure
that proper legal import and export procedures under the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora is adhered to
at every check-point across the country especially Suvarnabhumi Airport,"
Mr. Ekalarp Rattanarut, Director of Suvarnabhumi Airport Passenger Control
Customs Bureau said in a statement.
Customs officials at Suvarnabhumi International Airport have made a
startling number of seizures of ivory this year, totaling almost 2 tonnes of
illegal ivory.
"The customs officers responsible for this ivory seizure in Thailand are to
be commended, although the fact this trade continues illustrates that
Thailand's domestic ivory market remains a serious issue," Chris R.
Shepherd, Deputy Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia said in a press
release. "Unless Thailand starts making ivory seizures in the marketplace,
we fear its ivory trade will continue."
Thailand is among the top three countries-also including Nigeria and the
Democratic Republic of Congo-in the illegal ivory trade, according to
Elephant Trade Information Systems (ETIS) a database managed by TRAFFIC.
Although ivory is banned by the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES), elephant poaching has been on the rise in recent
years both in Africa and Asia. Currently the IUCN Red List lists the Asian
elephant (Elephas maximus) as Endangered and the African elephant (Loxodonta
africana) as Vulnerable. The forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), which
some consider a separate species, has not yet been evaluated. All of the
world's elephants are threatened by habitat loss and poaching.
http://photos.mongabay.com/j/ivory_seizure_thailand.500.jpg
Customs officers with smuggled ivory. Photo by: Suvarnabhumi Airport
Passenger Control Customs Bureau.
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