Joy as Thailand Agree to End Ivory Trade

05^th March 2013 UNDER Blog, WWF

WWF charity officials were over the moon as news finally broke that Thailand has pledged to end their involvement in the trade of ivory. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has now began the legislative process to end the countries ivory trade after almost 1.5 million signed a WWF petition asking the Thai government to rethink their policies at the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora in Bangkok.

The fight to stop the Thai ivory trade was spearheaded by Hollywood actor Leonardo Di Caprio, and will go a long way to halt global poaching. Every year thousands of elephants are needlessly slaughtered across Africa, leading to many countries now having none of the species left at all.

The ivory trade is worth millions of pounds to criminal groups who deal in animal parts, with Thailand, Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo all failing to address their rising domestic ivory markets. Thankfully the Thai government has now seen sense, thanks to the millions of people like yourselves who added their voices to the call against this barbaric industry.

Prime Minster Shinawatra said –

As a next step we will forward amending the national legislation with the goal of putting an end on ivory trade and to be in line with international norms.This will help protect all forms of elephants including Thailand’s wild and domestic elephants and those from Africa.

This is the first time the Thai government has ever addressed this issue, despite pressure from animal rights groups and world campaigns to stop ivory trade. The prime minister’s statement comes as WWF continue to appeal to governments across the globe to step up their efforts to halt all illegal wildlife trade. The news that Thailand, the world’s largest unregulated ivory market, is now taking measures to act, is seen as a major success. Though the celebrations were also marked with a words of warning from one WWF official in Bangkok.

Head of WWF’s delegation to CITES, Carlos Drews, said –

The fight to stop wildlife crime and shut down Thailand’s ivory markets is not over. Prime Minister Shinawatra now needs to provide a timeline for this ban and ensure that it takes place as a matter of urgency, because the slaughter of elephants continues.

If you would like to help WWF to protect the world’s elephants, why not adopt one through our dedicated charity page? Through a small monthly donation, you can now directly help the fight to save these amazing animals before it’s too late.