Ivory trade thriving in China but signs of decline: watchdog

Yahoo News 12 Nov 08;

BEIJING (AFP) – The illegal trade in elephant tusks is thriving in Chinese markets and upscale hotels although there are signs the problem could be on the decline, an environmental group said Wednesday.

Ivory continues to be smuggled into China despite a ban on imports that dates back to 1991, with the tusks mainly being sourced from Africa, according to the report released by TRAFFIC, a wildlife monitoring organisation.

Nevertheless, it said increased enforcement of regulations in China had led to some improvements, with surveys of markets showing that fewer illegal products were on sale.

"However, an illegal ivory trade continues to thrive at curio markets and in hotel shops," the report said.

"There is hope that this trade can be better controlled, however, since the market surveys show there may be a decrease in illegal ivory trade at these venues."

It said upscale hotels in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, had been found to be selling illegal ivory.

The report, entitled: "The State of Wildlife Trade in China", said the main factories for processing illegally-imported ivory were in the nation's southern and southeastern provinces of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangsu.

China is one of the world's biggest markets for ivory, which is traditionally used to make family seals to stamp documents as well as decorative antiques.

Chinese traders were the biggest buyers at a controversial series of auctions in four southern African countries recently in which 102 tonnes of government-owned ivory stocks were sold for just over 15 million dollars.

The legal sale, the first since 1999, came from elephants who died of natural causes or were culled to control their population, and funds will be used for elephant conservation and community development projects.

As the African ivory sale, in late October and early this month, was conducted through legal channels, the tusks can be imported into China without violating the 1991 ban.