Botswana Ivory Auction
Published October 31st, 2008
Botswana auctioned 44 tonnes of ivory today in a closed auction.
The auction is the second sale of elephant tusks this week approved by CITES, the international convention that governs trade in endangered species, after Namibia on Tuesday sold more than seven tonnes of ivory for 1.1 million dollars.
Conservation groups are angry over a decision to allow the first auctions of African ivory in nearly a decade. They believe that the sale will encourage poaching and illegal trading and endanger the lives of elephants.
Most of the tusks being auctioned are from government stocks and were taken from elephants that died from natural causes or from the culling of herds to prevent over-population.
