The ivory trade in India seems to be making a comeback, at least in select locations which have large foreign tourist influx with great demand for value-added ivory products.
Ivory carving and engraving by skilled artisans flourished in different Indian states until trade in ivory products was banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Even earlier, the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act (1972) was introduced to curb both international and domestic trade in raw ivory and ivory products. But due to lack of international control poaching and illegal trade in ivory continues.
Ten times higher profits
Profits derived from ivory products are usually ten times that for similar articles fashioned from other materials. This is incentive enough for carrying on the trade underground. The most active production and collection areas for raw ivory are Orissa, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, and the most active markets for finished ivory products are Murshidabad in West Bengal, Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan, and Kochi and Thiruvanathapuram in the southern state of Kerala.
Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) makes periodic seizures of ivory products in different parts of the country. Most of the seized items are carvings of Hindu gods, though elephants are not only regarded as sacred animals in large parts of South and Southeast Asia but are also an essential element in religious and royal pageantry.
Male-female imbalance ratio
Unlike African elephants, whose both males and females have large tusks, only the male Asian elephant produces tusks long enough for ivory carvers, causing a serious imbalance in the male-female ratio of Indian elephant populations, especially in the Nilgiri hills, where 6,000 to 10,000 elephants are said to inhabit.
Watch video Earth Report – Ivory Poaching Wars
