On the 12th December I asked the Government a question about the domestic ivory trade, in part of an ongoing effort to try and prevent the killing of elephants for their ivory. One elephant is currently killed every 15 minutes for their tusks and, at that rate, they could be extinct within 20-25 years.
I wrote to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
"To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of 8 December 2016, Official Report, columns 188-9WH, whether her Department's proposals to widen the UK ban on ivory sales will include sales of ivory products dating from before 1947".
I received a response on the 15th December from the Government which said:
"We have been actively exploring options to implement the Government’s manifesto commitment to press for a total ban on ivory sales and early next year we will consult on our proposal to ban sales of ivory that is less than 70 years old as of March 2017. As part of this, we plan to seek evidence on options and impacts of taking further action".
I sincerely hope that a stricter ban on the ivory market will be introduced (which bans ivory which is older than 70 years as well) to help save these magnificent creatures. The only ivory of value is the ivory found on a living elephant.