HK to burn 28 tons of ivory
Print Edition
Hong Kong is to incinerate 28 tons of ivory seized from smugglers in the world’s largest such operation, following intense pressure from conservation groups.
A government committee on endangered species agreed unanimously on the move to discourage the illegal trade, its chairman Paul Shin said.
Authorities will burn about 28 tons of the government’s 29.6-ton stockpile.
“The incineration of 28 tons of ivory is the largest in the world,” a government spokesman told reporters. The ivory will be cut into smaller pieces and then burned at 800 to 1,000 degrees Celsius.
Authorities expect the disposal to start in the first half of this year and to take one to two years, with future ivory seizures to be destroyed “on a regular basis.”
“We hope to send a strong message that illegal elephant poaching to harvest their tusks, to illegally buy and sell and to transport ivory through Hong Kong ... is not allowed,” said Shin, a marine biologist.
Hong Kong has been a transit point for the illegal ivory trade. The southern Chinese city has seen tusk seizures rise steadily since 2009, reaching a record of 8,041 kilograms seized in 2013.
Authorities have seized 33.37 tons of tusks since 2003, mostly shipped from African nations by sea. Some 400 kilograms of the stockpile has been donated to schools for educational purposes, and some has already been incinerated in test runs.
“I wish I brought some champagne! I applaud the government’s decision, it is a very good first step to take,” said endangered animals activist Sharon Kwok of Wild-Aid.
“While we applaud the government in taking this first step, the timeframe is too long,” Hong Kong for Elephants campaigner Alex Hofford said.
The duration of two years makes it easier for the government to backtrack on its decision, Hofford said.
The government spokesman said the incinerator’s capacity was limited and a two-year timeframe was needed.
The Chinese government crushed a pile of ivory weighing more than six tons in one go earlier this month, its first public destruction of ivory.
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