Swiss customs seize 578 pounds of ivory in suitcases dispatched from Tanzania to Beijing

[seafan]

Source: US News and World Report

Aug. 4, 2015

BERLIN (AP) — Customs officials at Zurich airport have seized 262 kilograms (578 pounds) of ivory that three Chinese men had dispatched from Tanzania, contraband that may have come from up to 50 elephants, Swiss authorities said Tuesday.

The ivory was found during a security check on July 6 and packed in eight suitcases, Switzerland's customs authority said. It put the estimated black market value at about 400,000 francs ($413,000).

The elephant tusks had been sawed into 172 pieces to fit into the luggage, which was being transported from Tanzania's capital, Dar es Salaam, to Beijing via Zurich. The head of the customs operation at the airport, Heinz Widmer, said officials estimate that the pieces came from 40 to 50 elephants.

Demand from China's rising middle class has been fueling elephant poaching in Africa and illegal trade in ivory, which is turned into jewelry and other decorative items. The whereabouts of the Chinese men wasn't immediately clear. But Swiss customs said they could face large fines for violating customs and animal protection rules.

The suitcases also contained 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of lion fangs and claws — 21 fangs and 35 claws. It wasn't immediately clear what they were intended for.

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/08/04/swiss-customs-seize-578-pounds-of-ivory-en-route-to-china

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Confiscated Ivory displayed at Zurich Airport in Kloten on Tuesday, Aug. 4 , 2015. Swiss authorities say customs officials at Zurich airport have seized 262 kilograms (578 pounds) of ivory that three Chinese men had dispatched from Tanzania. Switzerland's customs authority said Tuesday that the ivory — found during a security check on July 6 and packed in eight suitcases — had an estimated black market value of about 400,000 francs (US $413,000). (Walter Bieri/Keystone via AP)


Edited to add this important recent news:

China calls on US to follow its lead in eradicating ivory trade, from Tuesday 9 June 2015 06.13 EDT

China has pledged to end the processing and sale of ivory, a move that – if fulfilled – would be a major victory in the battle to end the slaughter of tens of thousands of African elephants by poachers every year. But it has not said how quickly it will act, and a top Chinese official called on the United States in an interview last week to also tighten its rules on ivory trading.

Wildlife experts said China’s recent announcement represented a sea change in official attitudes and called the prospect of an end to the legal trade in ivory in the country the greatest step that can be taken to reduce poaching. But they added that much would depend on when China acts, and how firmly.

China’s legal trade in ivory products – largely based on a stockpile imported in 2009 – provides the cover for a vast illegal trade that fuels poaching in Africa and involves global crime syndicates, experts say.

The United States is the second-largest market globally for illegal wildlife products after China, and it still allows trade in ivory acquired before a worldwide ban in 1989. Trophy hunters, Meng pointed out, are also allowed to import ivory into the United States for non-commercial use; Europeans still trade in ivory acquired in colonial times, while some African countries encourage trophy hunting for income.

“Ending the legal sales of ivory is the greatest single step that can be taken to reduce elephant poaching in Africa, and we hope it can happen as soon as possible,” said Peter Knights of WildAid, a San Francisco-based group that encourages Chinese people not to consume endangered wildlife products. “We applaud the Chinese government for its leadership.”

Cristian Samper, president of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York, said Meng’s remarks should be “broadcast around the world, and should put all poachers on notice that their bloody market is no longer viable”.

[DetlefK]

1. OrDeR IvOrY-PoWdEr To EnLaRgE YoUr PeNiS! OrDeR NoW!

Although Mao tried to weed them out, China is still full of ridiculous superstitions e.g. in the field of medicine. (Some buildings don't have a 4th floor because the chinese word for "4" sounds too much like the chinese word for "death".)

[progressoid]

6. But it's alternative medicine! What's the harm?

[robbob]

9. Umm...most our buildings don't have a 13th floor

For the same superstitious reasons. Just sayin'...

[turbinetree]

2. They need to be ...................................

extradited and put in JAIL-------------for a very long time-----------enough is enough.

http://www.liveanimalslist.com/mammals/elephants-endangered-species-facts.php


Apparently since the communist Chinese government and in most likely hood would have turned a blind eye to this illegal crime at the point of landing just shows how much corruption is within that system.

It's time to put sanctions on this communist Chinese government---------and this false equivalency that they have a middle class--------------really-------------the positions are bought with favors-------------they do not have a free market system------------they are state owned-----------you want proof----------think of the lack of trade unions

[Sunlei]

3. what really sucks is China imported hundreds of live young elephants from some breeding farm &

probably is breeding their own ivory also

It sucks to know such aware, intelligent animals are being farmed for their tusks. My god, look how small those smuggled tusks are! FU China, you suck!!

[Sunlei]

4. to my own post. China also 'took over' the drug company Horse urine PMU industry. Theres

a drug that is extracted from pregnant horse urine. They keep mares, 100s of pregnant horses in tight packed standing boxes for LIFE, with a tube shoved in them to collect urine. Their offspring, yearly foal is fattened for slaughter industry.

This happened in northern USA for decades, then the outcry got to loud for the drug corp. so the drug corp moved the cruelty to china.

yeah sure a lot of countries rape the land and sea for the last wild life and exploit animals & humans in a horrid cruel fashion but china is up there in lead position ruining the world.

[Coventina]

11. Yep. China is the #1 consumer of products taken from endangered species.

[restorefreedom]

5. these animals' ivory has to be destroyed

if it is stored or buried, people will try and find it. i think there should be a huge public ceremony honoring those that died. they can do it then.

[packman]

7. One step forward for China

now see about the trade in tiger parts, bear gall , shark fins, rhino horn dust, and the other animal parts that are considered "traditional" medicine.

[L0oniX]

8. China would confiscate all ivory items in their country if they were serious about this.

I'm betting that the leaders and the rich wouldn't be affected by it.

[Igel]

10. I don't like poaching. I like conservation.

But I'd have to be against trade in ivory that has been in circulation for a while. Banning trade in that has all kinds of consequences that they're not thinking through or don't care about because it interferes with the Cause. Yes, it can be complicated--somebody, somewhere, might violate the ban in a trivial way. Easier to be absolutely sure when you're a sure absolutist.

There are very good musical instruments with ivory fittings--oboes, violins, pianos. Then there's jewelry. Most of the "I have a Cause" would be banners wouldn't bother to exempt them. They didn't with rosewood, why trust them to get it right in the present when they're proud to have gotten it wrong in the past?

Brazilian rosewood is the poster child for idiot bans. Right now there are jurisdictions in the US I can't legally take my mandolin to because its back is made out of CITES-cited Brazilian rosewood. Let's not even discuss taking it abroad for any reason. It was made in the 1890s. I'm not sure about the pegs. And, no, I don't have the original bill of sale showing construction materials. It dates back to the heyday of plucked string orchestras in the US.

Don't even want to think about what my violin nut and bridge are made of. It's just celebrated its 200th birthday. Might be bone. Might be ivory. No way they're plastic. (My viola was also made before the US ban on ivory.)