Africa is divided over ivory trade ahead of wildlife meeting

JOHANNESBURG: Several African countries with some of the largest elephant populations are calling for looser controls on legal ivory trade, while another group of countries on the continent say tighter controls are the best way to curb the illegal killing of elephants for their tusks.

The dueling proposals reflect divisions within Africa over how to safeguard a species that has been killed in massive numbers by poachers over the past decade and to what extent elephant parts, including ivory, skin and hair, can be sustainably traded as commodities.

The dueling proposals were released by the office of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.

Colman O’Criodain of the WWF conservation group said that CITES members should focus on how to disrupt ivory traffickers and not engage in “sterile debates” at the Colombo meeting.