Botswana elephant ivory exports

At a meeting in the Hague, The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has approved exports of elephant ivory from Botswana (20 tons of ivory), Namibia (10 tons) and South Africa (30 tons). The exports were agreed in principle in 2002 but were made conditional on the establishment of up-to-date and comprehensive baseline data about elephant poaching and population levels. CITES has announced at the meeting that this condition has been satisfied and that the exports may proceed. According to CITES, legal sales of ivory derive from existing stocks gathered from elephants that have died as a result of natural causes or problem-animal control. In the HOORC Library's Peter Smith Collection, you can read a discussion of the controversy surrounding the ivory trade in Ivory crisis by Ian Parker and Mohamed Amin.