By Aliza Kempner
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| African elephant tusks | WikiCommons |
Last month, the deafening
crunch of nearly six tons of ivory trumpeted in a new era for international
crime fighting and conservation. The United States had seized the massive haul
of ivory, illegally harvested from endangered African and Asian elephants, over
several years. U.S. agents had seized the ivory from airports and cargo ships,
often discovering ivory hidden in the false bottoms of suitcases and shipping
crates or disguised by dark brown stain to disguise its young age.
Pursuant to an executive
order from President Barack Obama, the
“ivory tower” of carvings and trinkets met its demise in massive rock crushers on
a sunny Colorado morning – a fate far removed from the gilded displays that many
of these pieces had occupied previously. By destroying the ivory, the Obama administration
hopes to send the message that the fruits of illegal poaching will not ripen in
America, which had previously offered one of the world’s largest illegal ivory
markets.
Ivory has long held a place in both
Eastern and Western societies as a luxury good, used to fashion items like
combs, piano keys, jewelry, and religious figurines. While bringing ivory into
the United States is illegal, a complex loophole allows some ivory to sneak into
the domestic market legally. Meanwhile, demand
is up in countries such as China due to a rapidly expanding upper class that sees
ivory as a symbol of social
status.
