Destination Asia: Illegal Ivory Hotbed
Thailand
Hong
Kong and China
Japan
India
Malaysia,
Indonesia and
Philippines
Thailand
It is also very common to find elephants ‘begging’ on the streets of Bangkok and cities elsewhere in Thailand by night. Despite the government outlawing this practice recently, the animals are still regularly brought into the city by their keepers, or mahouts, who encourage tourists to give them money in return for being able to feed their charges a few leaves. Many of these elephants previously worked in logging camps. When the government closed down all logging operations in 1990 in order to protect the country’s remaining forests, their keepers had to find another means of income - especially as an elephant can eat up to 100kg of food each day.
However, begging from tourists has turned into a very lucrative trade, and the number of baby elephants seen on the streets is a sure sign that more are being brought in. These youngsters have often been poached in the neighboring country of Myanmar. Many elephants have been involved in traffic accidents, especially at night, where they spend long hours in areas such as Patpong, the red light district. They are often drugged to keep them going till dawn, amid the noise and exhaust fumes. They spend their days tethered in any available space - sometimes even under motorway bridges.
Please do not feed these elephants, no matter how pitiful they look. Elephants do not belong in cities, and feeding them only encourages the poaching of more animals from the wild to be subjected to this horrible existence. Instead, take a trek at a certified centre using former working elephants. These camps, where the animals work in a safe environment free from abuse, give owners an alternative means of making a living from their elephants.
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Hong Kong and China
Watch out for elephant ivory trinkets and traditional
medicines containing derivatives of endangered species, such as bear bile wine
and plasters containing leopard bone.
Also beware of eating in
restaurants that serve up the meat of exotic and often endangered animals.
Eating such animals can sometimes also pose a risk to human health. The
devastating 2003 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in Asia is
believed to have originated in palm civet cats – a wild animal often eaten in
Chinese restaurants.
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Japan
Under some conditions, ivory can be legally sold in Japan.
However, the system has many loopholes and much ivory offered as “legal” may
actually come from poached elephants. It is in any case illegal to take ivory
out of the country.
Also be aware that the meat of some endangered
species – including whales – may be available in Japanese restaurants and
stores. Despite a worldwide ban on whaling, Japan has a scientific permit to
kill certain species of whales for research. These are then sold for profit.
However, DNA investigations by IFAW have found meat from highly endangered
whales, such as the humpback (which has been internationally protected since
1966) illegally on sale in Japanese markets.
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India
Top souvenir products to avoid include ivory, tortoiseshell,
knives with handles made from the antlers of endangered deer, furs, shahtoosh,
butterflies, corals and reptile skins. The sale of ivory is illegal in
India.
Dancing bears and performing monkeys are also quite common. Please
do not encourage the trade by paying to watch these acts. These animals have
nearly always been removed from the wild and endure extremely cruel “training”
methods.
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Malaysia, Indonesia and
Philippines
A wide range of endangered wildlife souvenirs and foods,
such as turtle eggs and meat, are available. The region is also the centre of
the world’s coral trade. Be aware of tortoiseshell, endangered sea shells,
sharks’ teeth, jaws and fins, stuffed Birds of Paradise, and dead butterflies
and insects mounted in display cases. Many of these are endangered. Plants often
rely on such insects for pollination and animals rely on them for food.
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An elephant forced to work through the night on the hectic streets of Bangkok's sex district. Photo © IFAW
This bear is being kept in a tiny cage at a Chinese bear farm to be milked for its bile. Photo © IFAW
