IFAW and INTERPOL Combatting Ivory Poaching

COURTESY OF THE INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE

YARMOUTHPORT – More than 35 tons of poached ivory was confiscated last year with at least 18 seizures that were considered large or in excess of a half-ton.

The global security agency INTERPOL believes the large scale seizures are an indicator of an organized crime presence in the illegal trade.

The Yarmouthport-based International Fund for Animal Welfare signed and agreement with INTERPOL in 2013 to extend their worldwide cooperation to combat wildlife and environmental crime.

The director of IFAW’s Wildlife Trade Programme Kelvin Alie says there was a seizure of ivory every single week of 2015 and that records show 143 seizures reported in the media throughout the year.

The majority of those seizures were in Thailand, Vietnam, China and across Africa.

Alie says that between 25,000 and 50,000 elephants are being killed each year for their ivory.

Rhino poaching is also a major concern as 1,215 rhinos were killed for their horns in South Africa in 2014. As of August of 2015, South Africa had reported 749 rhino deaths.

IFAW is applauding the confiscation of illegal ivory but says governments need to employ the tools and expertise required to disrupt and dismantle trafficking.

More than 2,800 individuals have participated in IFAW’s Prevention of Wildlife Trafficking training in 38 countries.