God’s Ivory
TSAVO, KENYA, 20 JULY 2011: Soldiers stand guard over a pyre of stacked ivory waiting to be burnt in symbolic protest of the decimation of Africa’s elephants. The 5 tons of illegally trafficked ivory was recovered from a seizure in Singapore. The ivory burnt here was originally from Malawi and Zambia, 5 tons of the original 6.4 tons were burnt and the remainder will supposedly be sent back to the 2 countries of origin. It was burnt in Kenya under the auspices of the LATF, the Lusaka Task Force, a group of affiliated countries who are supposed to form a common front against wildlife crime in Africa. The ivory burning is regarded with some cynicism from conservation quarters, no Kenyan ivory was added to the pyre, despite stocks in excess of 65 tons and their appropriation of the PR value of this event. Chinese people who were present were heard to comment: "Why are they burning their money?"
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