UK’s new law to banivory trade
What I read
In “UKivory ban among world's 'toughest', Michael Gove says” BBC News (2018) reported
that Michael Gove said the new law on ivory sales is to be more strict than the
past and the most strict ban in the world and he continued that the ban would
affirm the UK’s position as the world’s leader against the disgusting trade. The
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the highest
punishment of five years in prison or an unlimited fine is for selling ivory. In
addition, many leaders of organizations relating to tusk poaching praised the
UK’s new tougher measure on ivory trade. However, some exceptions will be
remained; for example, products made of less than 10 percent of ivory before
1947, and music instruments made of less than 20 percent of ivory before 1975.
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My response
I'm glade to know that the big country spotlights the cruel trade and enacts the very strict measures to stop it and relevant processes. This is so big problem relating to international trades from the elephants' habitats to worldwide wildlife markets that a single organization or a country can't deal with alone. So, you can see that, because of inhumanity, UK, US, China and many countries have focused attention on wildlife trafficking .
Elephants' tusks are their long teeth. It is believed that the teeth are precious material which is used in jewelry and medicine. More than that, it can be used as the symbol of status and can bring prosperity and good luck to the owners. The beliefs of elephants' teeth have still remained among Asians especially Chinese people, so the ivory trading has still existed. I remember that in the past poachers tranquilized the elephants before cut their tusks off but due to high costs and avoiding arrest, today the elephants are killed and their frontal heads are removed to take their long teeth. The process of taking tusks is easier but more violent. Not only elephants but other animals with tusks or horns like rhinos, hippos, hornbills and even narwhals are endangered.
With highly advanced technologies in the present time, food and medicine including health service and education are provided, which is much more easier to access than the past, so it's unnecessary to eat and use wild and rare items from forests. Elephants' tusks belong to the elephants, so they are the most beneficial when the elephants use the body part to protect them from predators and break branches.
Elephants' tusks are their long teeth. It is believed that the teeth are precious material which is used in jewelry and medicine. More than that, it can be used as the symbol of status and can bring prosperity and good luck to the owners. The beliefs of elephants' teeth have still remained among Asians especially Chinese people, so the ivory trading has still existed. I remember that in the past poachers tranquilized the elephants before cut their tusks off but due to high costs and avoiding arrest, today the elephants are killed and their frontal heads are removed to take their long teeth. The process of taking tusks is easier but more violent. Not only elephants but other animals with tusks or horns like rhinos, hippos, hornbills and even narwhals are endangered.
With highly advanced technologies in the present time, food and medicine including health service and education are provided, which is much more easier to access than the past, so it's unnecessary to eat and use wild and rare items from forests. Elephants' tusks belong to the elephants, so they are the most beneficial when the elephants use the body part to protect them from predators and break branches.
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My question
Have you ever seen any products made of ivory? What are they? Where did you see them?
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Reference
- UK ivory ban among world's 'toughest', Michael Gove says. (2018, April 3). BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43620012
Many temples, rich people's houses or old palaces in Thailand have an ivory product because it was a luxury decoration in any house which can remark an owner socioeconomic status. This is a wrong value in many country especially in Asia. Now there are many new technology and innovation to produce new materials for use as natural produce such as wood. If we should develop some material which texture as same as ivory, I think we will resolve this problem.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've just commented that the traditional ideas that rare substances have medicinal value is foolish, Gaii reminds me of something that is true: ivory can be a beautiful material, and that's not a false belief.
DeleteAs I thought about it a bit more, I wondered whether elephants and other animals could be farmed to produce ivory for commercial use the same way that we produce meat from farmed animals. In fact, since the farmed ivory or rhino horn could be produced without killing the animals that produce this beautiful material, unlike tasty chops, wouldn't that mean that farm produced ivory was actually morally more acceptable than eating meat, which requires that the meat eater kill, or, like a mafia boss, pay someone else to kill for them?
As I read I wasn't sure whether Yok thought that there was ever any good reason to think that things like elephant tusks or rhino horn had any medicinal value at all. They do not and never did have any health value, nor was there ever any good reason to think that they did, only false superstition by our mistaken ancestors. I think we can understand why our ancestors had such false beliefs in the absence of science and healthy critical thinking, but they were still wrong. And as Yok's thoughtful post suggests, false beliefs can often have morally evil consequences, in the case of the idea that ivory has medicinal properties, it is disastrous for elephants and other animals as deluded humans greedy for their own benefit follow the false beliefs of their traditional cultures. It is much better to replace the bad old ways of the past with improved understanding, behaviour and morals.
ReplyDeleteIT is good news that big country focus on ivory trading problem. It is long false belief of many people that it is luxury goods for decoration. Actually I think not only elephant hunting should be prohibited but it also include other wildlife animals.
ReplyDeleteAccording to news in Thailand, hunting panther has just occurred. Many wild animals was in danger. We should protect them.
For your question, When I was young, I always saw it in many houses of the older. However, nowadays I have not seen it less often.
My coffee is almost finished, but I've got enough for one more comment.
DeleteI like New's comment that younger people have different, and I think better not just different, values to older people on this matter, so that we are now less likely to see the evidence of elephants being killed on display in homes today.
Perhaps it's natural that younger people who question what they inherited will understand that some old habits and ways of thinking need to be reformed, and that's a good thing. Given a chance, young people do want to make the world a better place.
It is a good idea to band ivory trade. I saw some products that made of or made from ivories but I did not care much about them. The first thing that comes to my mind when talking about an ivory is why it became a kind of luxury good or product that a group of some people want to buy and keep it. I do not know exactly what benefits of an ivory is for elephants.
ReplyDelete