The 175-nation meeting voted down calls by the two nations, which say elephant numbers are rising and are a danger to people in rural areas, to ease trade restrictions to permit a sale of 112 metric tons of ivory. ”We do not think our sovereignty has been respected,” Zambia’s Tourism Minister Catherine Namugala said of the decision by governments at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Doha, Qatar. ”Many people have been killed by elephants. Even as we speak, children are not going to school because they are afraid of encountering elephants along the way,” she said. People then decided to let others vote. ”Poaching of elephants and ivory seizures are escalating, not decreasing, this decision is a victory for common sense,” said Jason Bell-Leask, Southern Africa director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The last meeting in 2007 agreed to a nine-year moratorium on any further trade in ivory, after a sale of 105 metric tons of elephant ivory from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to China and Japan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content-/article/2010/03/220/ARZ20150032201860.html
March 25, 2010 at 1:04 am
I just wish animals were nicer and didn’t kill people. Great Article.
March 25, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Thats sad that their even afraid to go outside because they might encounter elephants. It sucks and is scary that those animals are very dangerous and can kill people. Goood Job.
March 25, 2010 at 10:06 pm
That was an really interesting article Jazmin. I agree with Adrianna, if only animals were nicer, less people would be killed.