Elephants in danger: increases the traffic of ivory

The illegal trade in elephant ivory is flourishing in Egypt due to lack of law enforcement, together with the entry into a new important buyer market: China.

The new report the sale of illegal ivory in Egypt establishes that Egypt continues to be one of the largest markets in Africa for illegal ivoryitems. He explains also that no article ivory - old or new - it can be sold legally in the country without a special permit, and has never ever been issued one!.

According to senior government officials interviewed by the authors of the report, Esmond Martin and Vigne Lucy, from the year 2009 only two seizures of ivory have taken place in Egypt at the airport of the Cairo. While there have been no seizures of articles of ivory in points of sale since 2003.

On the other hand, during the last survey conducted in March and April 2011, authors told 8343 articles of ivory openly on sale in The Cairo, a city described as the "Center of carving of the country". Almost all points of sale and workshops were open in the old market, Khan al-Khalili, main centre in Cairo to manufacture and sale to the retail product of ivory.

Other 918 articles of ivory were seen in Luxor. 3,000 were found pieces of ivory is estimated to have occurred in the past five years, the rest have mainly been carved in Egypt in the 1990s and early 2000.

Previous surveys of traffic in Cairo and Luxor, the two main markets of ivory from Egypt, carried out in 1998 and 2005 had found an overall reduction of 43 per cent in the total number of objects of ivory for sale. But this figure had only dropped by 10% in 2011 survey.

The disappearance of the encouraging the illegal ivory markets of Egypt among which are seen between 1998 and 2005 has regressed. Government regulators have failed and Egypt maintains its unenviable position of leadership as offenders in the sale to the retail of ivory.

Tourists who buy ivory enhance this illegal trade, making a mockery of the CITES and feeding the poaching of elephants in Africa. The report also mentions the Spaniards, Italians and Americans were the main buyers in 2005, was now increased the number of Egyptians and Arabs buying ivory rosary and sticks.
However, they have been overtaken by the Chinese who have become the main buyers. Reportedly they are responsible for buying more than half of all ivory carved sold.

A seller of ivory told investigators that Chinese buyers sometimes spend up to $50,000 in articles of ivory. Others said even that also provide receipts - obviously false to the truth - that indicate that a piece was old or is made of camel bone.