The Arab Spring in Egypt may be a triumph for people
and democracy, but it's been bad news for elephants. The illegal trade
in ivory may have benefited from a lack of law enforcement. Much of the
trade has been driven by unprecedented demand from Chinese tourists.
Between 1998 and 2005 Egypt's illegal ivory market shrank by 43 per cent, but a new report by TRAFFIC,
the UK-based network that monitors the trade in wildlife, suggests that
it is now shrinking at a much reduced rate – perhaps as a consequence
of recent political events.
"Any
time you have political upheaval on the scale we're seeing in Egypt, it
provides openings for illegal activities to take off, because everyone
is distracted," says Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC's elephant-trade expert.
The new report
by Esmond Martin and Lucy Vigne of TRAFFIC, shows that Egyptian
authorities have made only two seizures of ivory since 2009. The sale
and display of ivory has been illegal in Egypt since 1989, but TRAFFIC
found 8343 ivory items openly on sale in Cairo in April last year, and
918 for sale in Luxor.
Milliken says that demand for ivory has fallen in the west,
but there has been a rise in interest from Chinese tourists. The
solution is for authorities to crack down on the vendors, says Milliken.
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