Singapore Announces Ban on Domestic Ivory for 2021

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In commemoration of World Elephant Day yesterday, Singapore announced it will be ending the domestic ivory trade within its country by September 2021. This means that the sale of elephant and ivory products as well as displaying these products for sale will be completely banned in an effort to help protect the endangered elephants.

Elephants suffer continued perils in the wild including increasing human conflict, trophy hunting, and illegal poaching for the ivory trade. Their numbers have steadily decreased in the wild over the past decades but continued efforts to protect them are showing to be successful. With that being said, we need to see a complete ban on domestic ivory sales across the globe to really begin to tackle this problem. Ivory products are nothing but a novelty item, one that is costing an entire species its existence and has absolutely no benefit to human kind. Our desire to own products derived from ivory is sick and completely disregards the struggles elephants are facing.

This ban will see anyone displaying or selling ivory products in Singapore slapped with a 10, 000 dollar fine per infraction no larger than 100, 000 dollars or up to 12 months in prison if convicted. Although this is fantastic news and a step in the right direction, allowing another two years of this before putting a ban on it simply allows elephants to continue to suffer for products. In fact, it almost pushes those who are profiting off of these products to produce more in this time crunch to make as much money as possible before the ban comes in to place. It is a great idea but one that also puts elephants in immediate danger.

The fact is, there is no place in our society for novelty items like this. With a world of synthetics at our disposal, the fact that we continue to poach endangered animals for profit is both sickening and indicative of our own selfishness. The human race continues to show absolutely no regard or remorse for what we take from this planet and who suffers for our own gain. It seems that time and time again we have demonstrated that despite having rational thought and the ability to know what we are doing is wrong, we continue to do so without regard. It's horrifying that an entire species could be wiped off the planet for a bunch of novelty items.

Congratulations Singapore for your dedication to tackling the ivory trade and here's to hoping we continue to hear more countries are banning the domestic ivory trade until it is banned on a global level. That is the only way to secure a future for elephants.

HAPPY VEG