Wildlife administrators in Zimbabwe are asking the U.S. government to lift the ban on ivory imports from the southern African nation immediately due to concerns over how it is worsening the plight of poor Zimbabweans and also other animal species.
Elephant hunting contributes more than $14 million a year to Zimbabwe’s economy, and “not less than 55 percent” of the income from sport hunting goes directly to the poor, rural communities where wildlife is often the only source of income, according to information Zimbabwe’s wildlife administrators supplied to the Department of Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
The U.S. banned imports of ivory from Zimbabwe and Tanzania, among others, in February over misguided concerns surrounding the preservation of elephant populations. Meanwhile, according to Zimbabwe’s wildlife administrators, the country’s 97,500 elephants destroy food supplies needed for other species. Combined with the adverse affect on Zimbabwe’s poor, the U.S. ivory ban has disastrous implications for the southern African nation.
For more, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-14/zimbabwe-wants-u-s-to-lift-ivory-import-ban-immediately.html
For information on how you can fight the U.S. ivory ban and at the same time help save the elephant, join the Elephant Protection Association. For more, visit elephantprotection.org.
