NJ Passes Strictest Ivory Ban in the U.S.
The News
NJ Governor Chris Christie, who was a target of animal rights activists in 2013 for vetoing a bill to ban gestation crates, has signed into law a ban on ivory trafficking. Christie says that the law, which prohibits the import, sale or purchase of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn, not only protects wildlife but also helps to cut funding to terrorist groups. Global ivory sales are booming, with poachers in Africa killing an average of 96 elephants per day. In 2012, 35,000 elephants were slaughtered in Africa for their ivory.
Poachers in India; AP Photo/Anupam Nath
News & Opinion
No amount of helicopters, night-vision goggles and park rangers can stop the poaching of elephants as long as state-sanctioned carving factories in China are creating ivory products that are meeting the demand of Chinese consumers. If China banned the import and sale of ivory, the sophisticated poaching operations that supply the market would probably vanish, as demand in the rest of the world is much lower. That said, we must also strengthen the anti-ivory laws in the U.S.
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