TOKYO — Japan's ivory tusk registration system is awash with fraud,
fueling illegal ivory trade and undermining international action to protect Africa's disappearing elephants under pressure from intense ivory poaching.
Not exact matches
Even though other countries are clamping down on
illegal ivory, the unconstrained trade in Japan may offer loopholes for criminals to keep selling
ivory —
fuelling elephant poaching
Before Chinese demand for
ivory began driving the black market and
illegal killing of tens of thousands of elephants each year, it was Japan's market for hanko, personal seals used to sign contracts, that
fueled the
ivory trade.
In addition to
fueling global demand for
ivory — both legal and
illegal — auctions flood the market with legal
ivory, making it easier to sell the essentially identical products of poaching.
We believe that only by burning or destroying
ivory stockpiles worldwide can it be ensured that
illegal ivory can not be laundered into the system,
fueling the continued slaughter of elephants across their range.
But EIA President Allan Thornton added: «Japan is awash with
illegal ivory trade and Rakuten's thousands of
ivory ads help
fuel the mass slaughter of elephants across Africa.
Interestingly, the legal
ivory trade in China — which relied on stockpiled goods collected before the global ban — has inadvertently worked to harbor a booming
illegal trade that has
fueled poaching.