In an announcement posted online, the US Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) describes plans to “pulverize” a cache of ivory on November 14th. All of the ivory was obtained, the agency notes, from law enforcement efforts to crack down on trafficking over the last two decades. “Destroying this ivory tells criminals who engage in poaching and trafficking that the United States will take all available measures to disrupt and prosecute those who prey on, and profit from, the deaths of these magnificent animals,” reads a statement on the FWS website.
The so-called “ivory crush” is a first for the agency, which has previously stored all seized contraband at various government facilities. The items set to be destroyed include entire tusks, statues, and jewelry, much of which was at one point used in legal proceedings and later kept for the education and training of personnel. All told, the FWS estimates that the ivory represents several thousand slaughtered elephants.
Too late to save the animals though.
While I am not opposed, this does make me wonder what the USFWS budget is if they are doing this well going after international black market stuff.
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