In case you haven't heard, ivory is a hot commodity these days. The emergent middle class in China is rapidly driving up demand for ivory trinkets of various kind, which in turn is increasing poaching throughout Asia and Africa, in some cases even in supposedly protected areas. Various government agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) are working together to campaign against ivory consumption in the hopes that driving down demand will reduce or eliminate the incentive for poaching. It makes sense, but shifting a longstanding cultural preference could take a while and in the meantime elephants are being slaughtered at an alarming rate.
Reported by Forbes.com 22 minutes ago.
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