IN EARLY May, the governments of Zimbabwe and Namibia took the unusual step of petitioning the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (Cites) to remove their elephants from Cites protection, which currently prohibits them from selling elephant ivory. Arguing that the international ban — imposed in 1989 — on the sale of ivory has been a costly and unsuccessful 26-year "experiment", officials from the two Southern African countries are trying to make a case for releasing their ivory stockpiles onto the global market and thereby turn a profit.They argue that the Cites Appendix II listing, which allows only limited trade subject to particular conditions, has not allowed them to realise the asset value of their well managed elephant populations, numbering around 84,000 in Zimbabwe and 24,000 in Namibia. The removal of these elephants from Cites protection would allow them to auction elephant products to any willing buyers, built on the rationale that open trade is th...
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