ivory

Join our newsletter

The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    World-Renowned Ivory and Rhino Horn Investigator Killed in Kenya

    World-Renowned Ivory and Rhino Horn Investigator Killed in Kenya

    The conservation world is mourning the loss of renowned rhino horn and elephant ivory trade investigator Esmond Bradley Martin, who was found dead Sunday at his home in Nairobi‚ Kenya. The 75-year-old U.S. citizen had a stab wound in the neck. His wife, Chryssee Martin, reported the death. Kenyan Interior Ministry spokesman Mwneda Njoka told […]

    Ivory Trade in China Is Now Banned

    Ivory Trade in China Is Now Banned

    China’s ivory trade ban is now in effect, making it illegal to sell and buy ivory in the country. China, one of the world’s largest markets for both legal and illegal ivory, has been a major driver of elephant poaching in Africa. Last year, the Chinese government announced its commitment to shut down its legal, […]

    Japan’s Lax Regulations Threaten Chinese Ivory Ban

    Japan’s Lax Regulations Threaten Chinese Ivory Ban

    Japan’s failure to prevent illegal ivory exports could weaken China’s coming ban on domestic ivory trade, conservationists said Wednesday. The warning—made by Traffic, a wildlife trade monitoring group—comes just more than a week before the Chinese government will ban ivory retail sales and follows the closure of ivory factories in the country last March. “Our […]

    The Curious Case of the Phantom Hippo Teeth

    The Curious Case of the Phantom Hippo Teeth

    By Laura G. Shields Think of the illegal wildlife trade, and elephant tusks and rhino horns come to mind. But another of the world’s largest land mammals is slipping under the radar: the common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) may be at greater risk than previously believed, according to a new analysis of the international trade in […]

    Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration Over New Elephant and Lion Trophy Policies, Still in Effect Despite Trump’s Tweets

    Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration Over New Elephant and Lion Trophy Policies, Still in Effect Despite Trump’s Tweets

    The Center for Biological Diversity and Natural Resources Defense Council sued the Trump administration Monday for allowing U.S. hunters to import elephant and lion trophies from Zimbabwe. The lawsuit aims to protect animals and resolve confusion created by the administration’s contradictory announcements in recent days. The suit comes days after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife […]

    Trump’s ‘Hold’ on Elephant Trophies May Not Be Enough

    Trump’s ‘Hold’ on Elephant Trophies May Not Be Enough

    As many of you may have heard by now, President Donald Trump tweeted, and Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke reiterated, a decision late Friday night to put elephant trophy imports from Zimbabwe “on hold” out of the belief that “conservation and healthy herds are critical.” This follows the administration’s decision, on Thursday, to allow such imports […]

    Trump Budget Undercuts U.S. Commitment to Global Wildlife Conservation

    Trump Budget Undercuts U.S. Commitment to Global Wildlife Conservation

    By William H. Funk Proposed funding cuts to environmental programs in President Trump’s proposed 2018 budget have drawn anxious attention from around the world. But while the biggest numbers deal with rolling back the Obama administration’s climate change initiatives, more subtle withdrawals of federal support from lesser known international programs threaten the continued existence of […]