Yahoo Japan Tackling the Ivory Trade

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Now this is good news if I've ever heard some guys. Yahoo! Japan, the largest online platform for the sale and trade of ivory in Japan is enabling a complete ban on the sale through their platform. This news comes amidst the most recent CITES meeting in Switzerland where the trade of ivory was a big discussion. 

Elephants are endangered in the wild and all of the perils they face are entirely human driven. Habitat loss and human interference go hand in hand when it comes to their dwindling population. As the human population continues to grow, more land is required for their housing development as well as land required to produce food for the increasing population. This land requires takes necessary land away from the elephants leading to habitat loss. This removal of their habitat also leads to increased human-elephant conflict as the elephants are wandering into communities in search of food and water posing increased problems to these developing communities.

The ivory trade and illegal poaching are next in line when it comes to elephant populations dwindling. Despite many countries enacting a ban on the sale of ivory, the industry still flourishes in places like China and Japan where ivory is still widely distributed and desired putting elephants at serious risk. Poachers will go to great lengths to obtain the tusks of elephants, even putting their lives on the line in hopes of selling the ivory for large profits. What's especially saddening is that once these adult elephants are shot dead, their babies are often left at risk of being killed by predators because they lack the protection of their parents. It's a vicious cycle that leads to their current endangerment.

With Yahoo! Japan taking this monumental step to ban the sale of ivory through their platforms, it will seriously work towards crippling the industry but it is still not enough to stop the ivory trade in its tracks. Global participation in banning ivory sales is necessary to fight the decline of the elephants and without it, the illegal trade will continue to flourish on top of the legal sales. We need to see a global ban on the legal sale of ivory which would then allow a stronger focus on the illegal side of things and make it easier to crackdown on suppliers. 

This is another step in the right direction that I hope ignites further action from countries like Japan that have yet to ban the sale of ivory entirely. We need this ban to secure a future for elephants.

HAPPY VEG