8.8 tonnes of elephant ivory seized in Singapore

cde.news desk 23 July 2019, 07:39 · 1 min read

epa07732498 (23/26) An Aceh Natural Resource Agency staff show a confiscated elephant ivory, seized from a poacher, in the Aceh Natural Resource Agency office in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 19 June 2019. Across Aceh province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, new plantations and a housing construction boom are threatening the natural environment, pitting humans against the already-critically endangered wild elephants in a fatal conflict which the native Sumatran pachyderm is certain to lose. The elephants? impending extinction is palpable across the country, but nowhere more so than in Aceh, where only 500 remain in the wild. Clashes in Aceh between elephants and humans are reportedly the highest of anywhere in the country. The opening up of new palm oil plantations, illegal hunting, including for ivory, and large scale illegal logging are the main causes for the increasingly prevalent clashes between humans and elephants in Aceh. EPA-EFE/HOTLI SIMANJUNTAK PLEASE REFER TO THE ADVISORY NOTICE (epa07732475) FOR FULL PACKAGE TEXT

Singapore said on Tuesday it had seized 8.8 tonnes of elephant ivory, a record haul by authorities in the city-state, which conservation groups say is a transit point for the illegal wildlife trade.

The elephant ivory, estimated to be worth $12.9 million, came from nearly 300 African elephants, and was heading to Vietnam through Singapore from Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Packed into 132 bags were 8.8 tonnes of elephant ivory estimated to be worth US$12.9 million (S$17.6 million) – the largest seizure of elephant ivory in Singapore to date, according to the release.

About 300 African elephants were killed for this shipment.

Via Euronews / Channel News Asia

Topics Elephant Ivory Ivory Singapore