Philippines Pulverizes Ivory To Discourage Traffickers
Poached ivory is destroying wild populations of elephants and rhinos across Africa and Asia. The strong demand for ivory takes an estimated 25,000 elephant lives each year.
Now, the government of the Philippines is sending a message to poachers and smugglers, by destroying five tons of ivory confiscated in the country. On Friday, environmentalists, government officials, and the public gathered in Quezon City to witness the pulverization.
"We want to send a strong message that we're against the illegal trade of ivory, these are all contraband." says Theresa Mundita Lim, Director if the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Philippines. Her country's ivory stockpile is spread out on the ground; thousands of disembodied tusks turning a shady parking lot into an elephant graveyard.
First a steam roller crunched over the tusks, but the surprisingly durable ivory withstood the pressure until a backhoe took over, stabbing with the toothy side edge of the bucket.
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