A new law to ban the commercial sale and purchase of ivory as well as rhino horn in the cities of New Jersey and New York in a bid to combat illegal trade, has come as a welcome move. Chris Christie, New Jersey Governor and New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, signed the new laws in their respective states in the month of August. The timing couldn't have been more perfect as August 12 is celebrated as World Elephant Day each year.
CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) released a report in June that brought to light the poaching of over 20,000 African elephants across Africa in 2013. The poaching of rhinos and elephants has been met with increasing international outrage in recent times. This ban implemented in the two major player cities in international illegal wildlife trafficking will help curb the massive exploitation of commercial trade laws in the US.
"These bold actions give us all the tools we need to shut down black market elephant ivory trafficking in this country. We're eliminating the loopholes that help smugglers launder newly poached blood ivory via US markets," said William Woody, chief of law enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.
Author: Purva Variyar.
