Thailand to destroy massive ivory stockpiles ?

[wilcopops]

They should use it as a educational wake-up call to everyone! Set up centers around Thailand with the tusks for students and adults to see what this is; Butchery, murder and slowly the extinction of the fellow mammal that Thailand hold so dear to it's heart. This need to kill these majestic fellow mammals needs to end!

Nope - you don't need to send tusks to educate people.....just show them the carcasses.

[wilcopops]

Sell it carved by artistic prisoners. Give them a bonus for it. Sell it with a certificate how it was obtained and donate profits to organizations helping/ guarding elephants. My two cents worth.

Yep, and at well below market price; Flood the market and undercut. Makes the trade not lucrative enough to risk.

Unfortunately this doesn't work - wildlife products have a tendency to generate more demand which is sated largely by poaching.

[anon467367354]

this concept of selling something illegal to something good sounds ok on the outside,

but to me it sounds like if you confiscated drugs, sell them for a profit and put that money

into a drug clinic or drug education.

Probably plenty of places to sell marijuana or opium and totally legal too I'm sure.

In the end there is still a profit market for something illegal somewhere.

I say destroy it and be done with it. Any new ivory that shows up would be obvious to spot.

[biplanebluey]

Is there a way to donate these to legitimate museums and possibly legitimate zoos, that can create a display showing their support for a ban on ivory?

NO------ But it would make a perfect target for a gang of thieves. Think about it----- you take the tusks out of a heavily fortified safe situation and stick it on the wall somewhere---

[wilcopops]

this concept of selling something illegal to something good sounds ok on the outside,

but to me it sounds like if you confiscated drugs, sell them for a profit and put that money

into a drug clinic or drug education.

Probably plenty of places to sell marijuana or opium and totally legal too I'm sure.

In the end there is still a profit market for something illegal somewhere.

I say destroy it and be done with it. Any new ivory that shows up would be obvious to spot.

Agreed - and neither marajuana or opium are endangered species either.

[tingtongteesood]

They should use the tusks to kill by impalement anyone caught purposely killing elephants for their ivory.....

[Greg Nixon]

the ivory should be tagged and when cut up retagged by an identifying engraving. The illegal ivory trade can be severely damaged by selling the confiscated ivory for half price in dribs and drabs. Who wants the expensive ivory. If any ivory is found without the proper identifying marks its should be confiscated and sold at half price. Illegal traders may become discouraged and quit.

[Traveller45]

Can I say something? In the US they regularly confiscate valuable items obtained from crime, boats, airplanes, houses, you name it. These things are then being sold at auctions, the officers concerned receive a prime, and the remainder will go to the federal budget. That method works just perfect. Coming back to our case, taking the proceeds off the criminals (i.e. tusks AND cash) will dry out the illegal trade just as quickly and provides a huge incentive to Government Officials who are invited to keep a part of the proceeds as a prime, quite legitmately. That is the way to go!

[Traveller45]

They should use the tusks to kill by impalement anyone caught purposely killing elephants for their ivory.....

Doesn't work. For impalement you need something straight

[wilcopops]

Can I say something? In the US they regularly confiscate valuable items obtained from crime, boats, airplanes, houses, you name it. These things are then being sold at auctions, the officers concerned receive a prime, and the remainder will go to the federal budget. That method works just perfect. Coming back to our case, taking the proceeds off the criminals (i.e. tusks AND cash) will dry out the illegal trade just as quickly and provides a huge incentive to Government Officials who are invited to keep a part of the proceeds as a prime, quite legitmately. That is the way to go!

There is a difference between ", boats, airplanes, houses," and elephants.....only elephants are endangered.

Edited July 1, 2014 by wilcopops

[wilcopops]

the ivory should be tagged and when cut up retagged by an identifying engraving. The illegal ivory trade can be severely damaged by selling the confiscated ivory for half price in dribs and drabs. Who wants the expensive ivory. If any ivory is found without the proper identifying marks its should be confiscated and sold at half price. Illegal traders may become discouraged and quit.

"the ivory should be tagged and when cut up retagged by an identifying engraving." hugely impractical....

[wilcopops]

As with all such things there is a chain from the poacher to the eventual customer.

The way to stop the trade is to break the chain in as many places as possible.

The poachers (often the poor) will only kill these animals if there is money in it for them and they cant sell direct to the customer.

As both the customers and poachers are in different countries there is no way, other than complain, that Thailand can do anything about them.

There are however those in Thailand and countries other than the source and destination than can be targeted to remove links of the chain, this is what must be done also going after officials who allow these chain links to operate..

No easy task and an ongoing one for where there is profit there will always be those whose greed supersedes all else.

As for the ivory in storage. Yes destroy it, for it has already been withdrawn from the market and there is no point in reintroducing it just to make money for someone else from the death of the elephants.

"As both the customers and poachers are in different countries" - not true - both poachers and customer exist inside Thailand; Thailand has a large "legal" ivory dealing trade. the Phayuha Khiri District Nakhon Sawan is the centre of a "legal" ivory trade in Thailand.

thailand is also a signatory of the CITES treaty.

Edited July 1, 2014 by wilcopops