An InvestIgAtIon of HAwAI‘I’s Online ivOry Trade TABLE OF CONTENTS executive summary the global elephant Poaching Crisis the U.s. Ivory Market online Ivory sales In the U.s. Hawai‘i’s Ivory Market Investigative Procedure summary of findings Documentation And Legality Claims Conclusion sources Acknowledgements 03 04 05 06 07 081416淘宝店铺 “Vivian研报” 首次收集整理 获取最新报告及后续更新服务请在淘宝搜索店铺“Vivian研报” 或直接用手机淘宝扫描下方二维码 3An InvestIgAtIon of HAwAI‘I’s onlIne Ivory trAde Over the last decade, surging consumer demand for ivory has triggered a nearly unprecedented poaching wave, one that threatens to drive African elephants toward extinction unless the killing—and demand for tusks and carvings—is halted soon. Many countries including the United States have moved this issue to the top of their conservation policy agendas, most importantly by restricting their domestic ivory markets. The U.S. federal government is expected to fnalize a strong ivory trade ban soon that will address imports, exports, and interstate trade, and several states have passed laws to complement the federal rule by restricting intrastate ivory commerce. Hawai‘i, which has perhaps the country’s biggest remaining market for ivory products, is poised to follow suit. These local eforts are crucial to stopping sales of illegally-imported items—Law enforcement ofcials estimate that some 90% of smuggled shipments leak past border inspections and fnd their way into the marketplace,1 where they are largely indistinguishable from older, legal ivory.2 For this report, investigators compiled advertising and sales data from 47 Hawai‘i-based retailers and individual sellers engaged in the online trade of elephant ivory and related wildlife products, including walrus tusks, whale teeth and bone, mammoth ivory, and hippopotamus teeth. They found a total of 4,661 products in stock or for sale, with an overall value of more than $1.22 million, over a six-day period. The vast majority of this inventory (85.5%) was elephant ivory. Few of these retailers provided any evidence that their wares had been legally imported into the state. Some 28% of the sellers (14 of 47) referred to their advertised items as being “pre-ban,”“antique,” or “vintage,” but only one of the 47 provided supplemental documentation of legal import. Taken together, this large overall inventory and scant proof of legality are cause for concern. Add to this the fact that Hawai‘i is a known destination for illegal ivory shipments, and the case grows for strong restrictions on intrastate ivory sales. ExECuTivE SummAry IMAGE: JULIE LARSEN MAHERWCS 4An InvestIgAtIon of HAwAI‘I’s onlIne Ivory trAde african elephants are facing an unprecedented crisis. Populations are plummeting all across the continent due to astounding levels of poaching: Out of a total of perhaps half a million individual animals, scientists estimate that more than 100,000 elephants were killed by poachers between 2010 and 2012 alone—an average of one elephant every 15 minutes, or 96 every day.3 Populations of one subspecies, the African forest elephant, have declined by 65% since 2002, meaning it could be extinct in the wild in a decade if the trend continues.4 Sadly, despite growing international attention, the massacre shows few signs of stopping. Wildlife trafcking has plagued the African continent in decades past, but the current generation of poachers is increasingly organized and well-armed; many are backed by international criminal syndicates and some are even linked to brutal terrorist groups.5 The recent uptick in elephant poaching is driven by extraordinary consumer demand for their tusks, which are carved into a variety of objects including jewelry and decorative statues. The past ten years has seen soaring market prices for ivory products, largely due to a growing middle class in China and other Asian countries where ivory products are considered by some to have signifcant cultural value.6 But the United States is also a signifcant ivory market that contributes to the global demand for ivory products; ivory from recently poached elephants is regularly smuggled into the United States and sold both in storefronts and online, often disguised as antique, legal ivory.7 In response to the resurgent crisis, the federal government and some U.S. states are working to close the loopholes that have allowed the illegal ivory trade to fourish in the United States. On the heels of a 2013 Executive Order on combating wildlife trafcking, issued by President Barack Obama, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) crushed six tons of confscated ivory in November 2013 and nearly one ton in June 2015 to publicize the issue, and has encouraged other countries to follow suit.8 The USFWS is also in the process of revising its policies and regulations governing the import, export, and interstate sale of African elephant products and has worked with other federal agencies and their counterparts overseas to initiate a “whole-of-government” solution to the problem through a National Strategy on Combating Wildlife Trafcking.9 The federal rule is limited to import, export, and interstate commerce and does not apply to sales occurring wholly within a state. Interpol, the global police organization, estimates that only 10% of illegal goods are seized during border inspections. State bans will add a critical layer of protection by preventing much of the remaining 90% from infltrating our domestic markets—particularly in poorly- regulated venues such as e-commerce platforms, antique shops, fea markets, and auction houses. To that end, over the last two years, New York, New Jersey, California, and Washington (the latter via a ballot initiative) have enacted laws to close their intrastate ivory markets, with several other states currently pursuing ballot initiatives and legislation.10 ThE GLOBAL ELEphANT pOAChiNG CriSiS IMAGE: JULIE LARSEN MAHERWCS SiNCE 2002, AFriCAN FOrEST ELEphANT pOpuLATiONS hAvE dECLiNEd 65%
。。。以上简介无排版格式，详细内容请下载查看