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Save Elephants

Kashmir Times. Dated: 9/13/2017 4:19:03 PM

Dear Editor,
In India, even though the elephant is venerated and is seen as a symbol of friendship, it is hunted for its tusks. Ivory, derived from elephant tusks, is the leading cause for the poaching of these animals. Over the past few decades, the overall elephant population has declined 76 per cent, all because of the demand for their tusks, which can be sold for $1,500 a pound on the global black market.
Today ivory is mostly extracted from elephants in African and Asia. However, India cannot afford to relax its vigil, for the poaching for ivory has decimated the tusk bearing male elephant population. Report says as against 300,000 to 600,000 African elephants, there are just 35,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants, half of them in India. According to wildlife group, illicit trade in ivory has doubled since 2007 and more than tripled over the past 15 years.
The international trade in elephant ivory has been banned since 1989 but the reality today is that the level of poaching and illegal trade in ivory is spiralling out of control. Ivory products, desired over centuries, need to be banned in order for elephants to survive
—Vinod C. Dixit,
B-15 Jyoti-kalash Society, Ahmedabad.