Dear friends,

In the third week of March 2009, the worldwide UN ban on ivory trading could be lifted — a decision that could wipe out Africa’s vulnerable elephants. But a number of a African nations are pushing to uphold the ban. Let’s send them a stampede of support to save the elephants. Sign the petition below, and ask your friends to as well:

Sign the petition! https://secure.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloody_ivory_fb/?vl

Illegal ivory being burned.

Tanzania and Zambia are lobbying the UN for special exemptions from the ban, but this would send a clear signal to the ivory crime syndicates that international protection is weakening and it’s open-season on elephants. Another group of African states have countered by calling to extend the trade ban for 20 years.

While researching the availability of ivory in gift shops and other retailers in Bangkok, I was shocked to see how popular and common illegal ivory is. If the ban is lifted for Tanzania and Zambia, it will provide political cover for retailers of ivory in the destination countries. It will also create an industrial complex based on the ivory trade. Once the ivory from this one-off sale is sold, there will be a vacuum for supply of legal ivory, but no dip in demand. The illegal killing of elephants will rise to meet this demand. Please join me in signing this important petition.

Our best chance to save the continent’s remaining elephants is to support African conservationists. We only have 5 days left and the UN Endangered Species body only meets every 3 years. Click below to sign this urgent petition to protect elephants,¬† — the petition will be delivered to the UN meeting in Doha:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloody_ivory_fb/?vl

Over 20 years ago, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) passed a worldwide ban on ivory trading. Poaching fell, and ivory prices slumped. But poor enforcement coupled with’experimental one-off sales’, like the one Tanzania and Zambia are seeking, drove poaching up and turned illegal trade into a lucrative business — poachers can launder their illegal ivory with the legal stockpiles.

Now, despite the worldwide ban, each year over 30,000 elephants are gunned down and their tusks hacked off by poachers with axes and chainsaws. If Tanzania and Zambia are successful in exploiting the loophole, this awful trade could get much worse.

We have a one off chance this week to extend the worldwide ban and repress poaching and trade prices before we lose even more elephant populations.

Across the world’s cultures and throughout our history elephants have been revered in religions and have captured our imagination — Babar, Dumbo, Ganesh, Airavata, Erawan. But today these beautiful and highly intelligent creatures are being annihilated. As long as there is demand for ivory, poaching and smuggling will happen, but this week we have a chance to protect them and crush the ivory criminals’ profits.

As long as there is demand for ivory, elephants are at risk from poaching and smuggling — but this week we have a chance to help stop it.

Sincerely,

Trip Jennings

Thanks to the organizers of this petition. Please check out their sites below.

More information:

http://www.bloodyivory.org/
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species: http://www.cites.org