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Ebay bans ivory sales

Category: elephants | Date: Oct 21 2008 | By: baraza

I can’t shake the feeling that elephants are going to be the big news stories for coming weeks. First, we are all anxiously awaiting the 28th of this month when more than 100 tons of ivory will be auctioned in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The sale approved by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES, in July shocked many of us because China was approved as a trading partner. China! A country that has been implicated in enormous levels of illegal trade and even for organizing poaching in Kenya.  I’m talking to a number of people and I am doing some research on this issue. I’ll bring you some more posts and news about  what this means for Africa and elephants in coming days.

Today however, I’m in celebration mood. Ivory sales on Ebay are to end. This blog post is to send out a MASSIVE THANK YOU TO RICHARD BREWER-HAY of Ebay who made the decision and the announcement on an inhouse blog here.

Ebay bans ivory

The announcement has led to a media frenzy about this including BBC, and on Market watch - they emphasize that the announcement came just moments before a damning report by IFAW that the popular auctioning site is a place that launders vast amounts of ivory. You can download the IFAW report “Killing with Keystrokes” here.

Ebay ivory

Quick search on Ebay for “elephant ivory”  gives 6 pages with 25 items for sale on each! You can also get other elephant products like hide.

Regardless of why Ebay made the announcement, I think it’s great that conservation pressure have had an impact on Ebay. I’m a bit saddened that the ban  is not immediate but comes into effect on January 1st 2009. So, for the time being anyoen can still buy ivory trinkets - a quick search on Ebay revealed a suprising number of items on sale!

Hopefully the ivory ban is just the beginning, for sure there are many other wildlife products especially in oriental medicines, that are made up of body parts from endangered species. These should all be banned as well without delay as IFAW write another report. I’ve left a note on the Ebay blog to this effect. You can too…if you get a chance, leave a thank you  to Richard on the Ebay blog here.

On a related topic, elephants in Kenya are being saved by cell phones on a private ranch through a partnership between a conservationist Iain Douglas Hamilton, a private ranch owner and the largest Cell phone company Safaricom. The elephant with the cell phone device on a radio-collar  basically sends text messages to rangers every time he gets too close for comfort to villages. The rangers swing into action and chase him away - saving his life as well as the crops and lives of people in the village. Its an extraordinary use of cell phone technology and everyone is talking about it- check out Wildele’s here and Afrigadget blog about innovations in Africa.

Well, for your benefit, I’m going to see Ian Douglas Hamilton from Save the Elephants tomorrow to get you the inside scoop so stay tuned to Baraza blog.

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9 Responses to “Ebay bans ivory sales”

Lisa, California, on 21 Oct 2008

I’m so glad to read this news finally. I’ve only been on Ebay once and that was back when Robin did the “Art Helping Mountain Gorillas” auction. At the time, I remember feeling a huge conflict of interest, knowing that Ebay dealt in ivory. I believe, I even wrote them a letter, asking them to stop selling ivory on their site. This is good news indeed. Thanks for sharing it. Lisa

sheryl, washington, dc, on 21 Oct 2008

Outstanding news! I wrote a thank-you note on the eBay blog and urge everyone who cares about wildlife conservation to do the same. Companies such as eBay need to know there are a great many people out here who care deeply about elephants and all wildlife. There are some very negative comments on the blog post, so add your positive comment now!

s.

TheTeach, on 21 Oct 2008

Looks like some good news, here. Hopefully the e-bay ban will start a chain reaction in the commercial world and the re-establishment of public awareness. Maybe that, coupled with the global economic slowdown will facilitate a chain reaction to stop demand,and start safeguarding the elephants before the poaching gets totally out of control like it was in the 1980’s. We can’t go there. That will be the end for the African elephant. What we need to see are more of those full page newspaper advertisements showing faceless elephant carcasses covered with vulture droppings. As unpleasant as they are to view, that is the reality of ivory trinkets and human vanity, and it elicits a strong reaction from the caring public. The world responded to these visuals before and they will again, if the issue gets the publicity it deserves. The present danger is that so many herculean issues we currently face will bump the fate of the elephant to the back pages, or no coverage at all until the situation is beyond repair. Then everyone will be saying, “why weren’t we told what was happening? How could this be allowed to occur? Why was it brought to our attention so late?” The media have a responsibility to alert the public. The public have a responsibility to demonstrate their outrage and demand action. They can only do this if they are more aware of the issue. I commend Wildlifedirect for keeping this issue front and center in its many blogs; but,the issue needs to make major headlines well beyond the conservation community. Things can fall apart pretty fast. Case in point, Zakouma in Chad. In just 4 years once healthy herds of elephants have been decimated, roughly 4000 elephants reduced to almost less than 1000, if recent reports I’ve read are accurate. That is obscene. In 2007 NatGeo reported these as some of the last large and healthy herds remaining in Africa. Now the poachers see fit to reduce this population to scattered bands of terrified refugees. Those that survive do so only due to the heroic efforts of the rangers that have pledged to protect them. If someone has any more or recent info on Zakouma, please post here. We get very little info on this and much of the online info is now outdated. Many of us are painfully aware of the precarious situation for any remaining elephants in Virunga National Park, DRC. Recent estimates put them at less than 200 now with one or several individuals being lost almost every month. On a lighter note, great to hear about your meeting with Ian Douglas-Hamilton. He is the MAN! Thanks for keeping us all posted. The time to turn the tide is NOW! Best Wishes

Maina, on 22 Oct 2008

Thumbs up for eBay, and Teach, you hit the nail right on the head every time you comment. It is true, we have to make lots of noise, especially now that the world is preoccupied with an economic slump and they may not hear the murmurs. We need to shout and trumpet (like our brother the elephant) until everyone hears us.

I have this strange feeling that China, Japan and the southern Africa states are taking advantage of all the hullabaloo about economies to sneak behind our backs and trade the ivory stockpiles.

Faye, on 22 Oct 2008

FINALLY! I used to sell on eBay and remember sending email complaints about all the ivory listed on their site. Thank you eBay, and like the TheTeach said, hopefully their decision will start a chain reaction in eCommerceland.

(The Afrigadget blog is great!)

Annie, on 22 Oct 2008

Yea!!!!!!!!!! I sent a letter thanking them!

Christine C., on 22 Oct 2008

Wonderful news…I have been absolutely shocked at the amount of ivory for sale on e-bay and am just thrilled to hear that they are finally banning it…just terrific.

James Christian, on 22 Oct 2008

I always knew that Ebay was the best thing on the internet.
James Christian
Walking Safaris in Kenya
http://www.karisia.com

Baraza » Elephant killings and ivory trade alarm bells, on 17 Mar 2009

[…] 2009 Ebay bans ivory on online […]

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