Is it ever okay to sell ivory?
Polls
26th May 2022
ZIMBABWE wants to be allowed to sell off its seizures of elephant ivory and rhino horns to fund elephant conservation.
Selling ivory has been banned since 1989, under the CITES rules, an international agreement to protect endangered species. That’s because people were killing elephants for their tusks, which could be sold for a lot of money.
But Zimbabwe has vaults full of 135 tonnes of ivory and rhino horns, which have been taken from illegal poachers (hunters) or from dead animals in the country’s national parks. Officials say they could make £500 million from selling the ivory, and that the money would help the country pay for its elephant conservation work.
There are around 100,000 elephants in Zimbabwe – twice as many as the government says it can handle. It claims less tourism money due to Covid has made things worse and is even threatening to cull (kill) elephants now to reduce their numbers.
Zimbabwe is due to host talks with China, Japan and other African countries shortly. One of their goals is to add pressure to allow the sale of ivory ahead of a CITES conference in November.
20 Comments
eby · 3 years ago
Not sure we could believe them they would only sell "stock" ivory and not kill more elephants and rhinos.
octopi · 3 years ago
Zimbabwe should never be allowed to sell ivory, they are killing elephants unfairly. Animals deserve the right to live too!
kb16 · 3 years ago
I think that if you ban it then people would do it illegally, instead, it should be encouraged not to or to be sold at a high price.
osaka · 3 years ago
I think they should sell the stuff they have already but not get any more ivory
max1234 · 3 years ago
No! It’s not fair for elephants and rhinos, and the sellers would be making money of killing. Why can’t they use natural materials, like cool rocks?
stingray1 · 3 years ago
They don't need to cull (kill) elephants just to get ivory.
stingray1 · 3 years ago
N. O. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😔
crazyslime · 3 years ago
I think it is unacceptable for Zimbabwe to sell ivory. Even if they are going to use the money to help conserve elephants in the country it is still not great since, if many people purchase the ivory that Zimbabwe are selling, poachers will think that ivory is popular and start to kill more elephants and sell the ivory themselves. Therefore, if poachers kill lots of elephants, they might become more endangered than they are.
olivew · 3 years ago
I think they should not carry on selling ivory because people have realised it is bad and if the companies keep on selling ivory, I think it could become a thing again where people think “oh I can just get an ivory necklace” and forget that animals are going extinct. Also the more people who buy, the more companies have to produce ivory. :)
jazzmango · 3 years ago
I think yes because you wouldn't want the ivory to go to waste after all the expense to get it.
max1234 · 3 years ago
THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO LIVE
fizzbezz · 3 years ago
I think it should be allowed as it has many properties but only if there are very controlled measures to make sure only ivory is sold that has not harmed the elephants when it is taken from them.
simbasimba · 3 years ago
NO! Think about how many elephants and rhinos where killed to get all that ivory. If this happens more, they might go extinct!
jaws1976 · 3 years ago
NO definitely not killing a beast for their tusks is unnceptable and laws should be harsher on poachers. If they die naturally of a cause, it is on the verge of ok but still you can't kill an elephant just for it's tusk's.
ivansp2011 · 3 years ago
Well, as long as they are only selling what they already had and not some ''mysterious stocks out of nowhere''.
fredjames · 3 years ago
@max3214 but butchers make money off of killing as well though.
lkb10 · 3 years ago
No, I don't think Zimbabwe should be able to sell ivory as they might just kill more animals and pretend they just had it all along. Killing animals for their tusks is wrong and it would be supporting this if countries allowed Zimbabwe to sell ivory.
foxesrock1 · 3 years ago
Definitely not!! Elephants should not die because people want to make money!!
( But they should sell the stuff they've already got, because otherwise it would be a waste.)
squeezjoos · 3 years ago
Animals have the right to live!!!!!¡!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
olivew · 2 years ago
ELEPHANTS ARE ENDANGERED BECAUSE OF THIS!!!!!!!!THINK IF THIS WERE YOUUU!!! DYING TO MAKE OTHER PEOPLE HAPPYYY IN A BAD WAY!!! NOOOOOOOOOO WAYYYYYYYY JOSEEEEEE!!!!!! ELEPHANTS ARE ALSO MY FAV ANIMAL AND I DONT WANT THEM TO GO EXTINCT! >:(