HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong will destroy most of its huge
stockpile of confiscated illegal ivory in a process that could take up
to two years, officials said.
The decision announced Thursday night comes after similar action by mainland China, the U.S. and the
Philippines.
Conservation
groups had urged the southern Chinese city’s government to dispose of
the ivory to send a strong sign it’s serious about cracking down on the
black market trade that is decimating Africa’s elephants.
Hong
Kong is a major transshipment point for illegal ivory sent to mainland
China and officials have seized about 32.5 tons of ivory in the past
decade, making it one of the biggest stockpiles in the world.
Officials
now have about 30 tons left in heavily guarded government warehouses
after donating small amounts for legitimate purposes such as
conservation awareness or scientific research.
Conservation
officials said they decided to destroy most of the rest of stockpile "in
view of the management burden and the security risk generated by
prolonged storage of the forfeited ivory."
They expect to start
disposing of the ivory in the first half of 2014. In a sign of just how
big the stockpile is, the disposal is expected to take "about one to two
years."
China’s demand for ivory is soaring as rising incomes mean ivory carvings prized as status symbols are
becoming more affordable.
The
International Fund for Animal Welfare said in a 2011 report that ivory
in China cost as much as $2,400 a kilogram. The group estimates 35,000
elephants a year are killed by poachers for their tusks, risking the
animal’s extinction in the wild.
Earlier this month, authorities
in southern China destroyed about 6 tons of illegal ivory in a surprise
move praised by conservation groups. The U.S. and the Philippines
destroyed similar amounts last year.
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