EBay Bans Cross-Border Ivory Sales

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Associated Press

EBay Bans Cross-Border Ivory Sales
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Jun 5, 2:31 PM (ET)

By ARTHUR MAX

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - The online auction house eBay Inc. (EBAY) said Tuesday it will ban cross-border trade of ivory products, following a study by a wildlife group that found nine out of 10 of the items sold on the Internet is probably illegal.

The company also will alert traders on its Web site that they may need to prove they are legally allowed to sell their ivory products, spokeswoman Nicola Sharpe said, speaking from San Jose, Calif.


Activists representing PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, protest with red paint on their hands outside the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or Cites, in The Hague, the Netherlands, Tuesday, June 5, 2007. They are wearing t-shirts with the names of South-Africa, Botswana, Malawi and Zimbabwe because "these countries have the blood of elephants on their hands" the protesters say. On Saturday, CITES' 18-member Standing Committee, which meets annually, approved the sale by three southern African countries of 60 tons of ivory from national stocks to Japan, in a one-time exception to a 1989 trade ban.The ban was credited with helping elephant herds recover in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, which imposed strict management schemes. The decision to let the sale go through was denounced by some conservationists who said it could serve as a cover for illegal ivory and encourage poaching in West and Central Africa. (AP Photo/Rob Keeris)

The first report of the ban came at a conference in The Hague where regulation of the ivory trade is high on the agenda of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare, the British-based wildlife group that negotiated the ban with eBay, said the announcement should send a signal to the 171-nation CITES to tighten the trade regime to further protect elephants from poaching.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070605/D8PIQOF80.html

[StarryNite]

1. Good!

I'm sick of animals dying just to provide people with trinkets.

[youngdem]

2. Just look at all of the ivory on ebay that is on their site right now.

http://search.ebay.com/ivory-tusk_W0QQssPageNameZWLRS

http://search.ebay.com/elephant-ivory_W0QQssPageNameZWLRS

http://buy.ebay.com/ivory

Why sell any at all?

[MasonJar]

3. Hey, E-Bay, ban all ivory sales.

[LeftyMom]

4. Why not just ban ivory sales on the site?

They don't have the manpower, the expertise or the inclination to tell a legal sale from an illegal one. Better to steer clear of it entirely.

[dipsydoodle]

5. There is a material difference between

raw ivory and + 100 year old banjo tailpieces and pegs etc. There is also an obvious difference between elephant ivory and mammoth ivory - unless someone would like to tell me when they last read of a mammoth being killed for its ivory.

Same issue applies to perambuco wood which is soon, apparently, to be barred totally from crossing any borders, under any circumstances, thus stuffing all professional violin and cello players etc - most high quality antique bows were made of that.

[Coventina]

6. Awesome!!

A win for the elephants!!

:woohoo:

[mcg]

7. 5 Ways to Help End the Illegal Wildlife Trade

http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=210297