Page 51 - Empires of Medieval West Africa

Empir E s of m E di E v al w E st africa

Inland Delta, Gao, and the eastern Songhay provinces added enormously
to the farming, grazing, hunting, and fishing resources of the empire. The
new territories also provided additional sources of slaves for trade, mili-

CONNECTIONS

Beautiful, Bloody Ivory

in the mali Empire, ivory was one of the most in 1997, things began going wrong again
profitable exports, along with gold, salt, and for the elephants. Botswana, Namibia, and
slaves. throughout all the centuries of North Zimbabwe, which have some large elephant
african and European trade, untold numbers frican and European trade, untold numbers herds, requested that citEs lift its strict
a a
of elephants were killed for their ivory. ban on the ivory trade. this would allow the
Between 1979 and 1989, when trading in export of elephant skins, tourist souvenirs
ivory was still legal, records were kept of the made from ivory and skins, and live animals.
slaughter. during those 10 years, so many only Zimbabwe was allowed to export ele-
elephants were killed for their ivory that the phant skins.
population of african elephants was cut from african elephants was cut from a in June 1998, Zimbabwe sold 22 lots of
1.3 million to approximately 600,000. the dry, salted elephant hides, ears, trunks, and
scale of poaching (illegal hunting) was so feet. after the 1989 ban, poachers in Zimba-
great that it harmed the economies of african african a bwe had not stopped killing elephants, so
countries that had to spend a great deal of the hides had been accumulating. By 1997,
money to fight poachers. during the ivory they had a supply weighing 82.8 metric
wars that were fought to stop the slaughter, tons. most of the hides were sold to compa-
many poachers and game wardens (people nies in the United states and Japan. in the
who enforce hunting regulations) were killed. United states, elephant-hide cowboy boots
the convention on international trade in are now offered by tony tony t lama and Justin.
Endangered species of wild fauna and flora sadly, the poaching and illegal trade in
(citEs) tried to control the ivory trade. But ivory continues to threaten the survival of
they failed, and most of the ivory trade came elephants in africa. Between January 2000
from poached elephants. in 1989, citEs and July 2002, at least 1,063 african ele-
banned all international trade in elephants phants were reported to have been poached
and their parts, including skins and ivory. for their ivory. during that time, customs
this ban had wide support. it halted the officials and other authorities seized 54,828
devastation of populations and provided the ivory pieces, 3,099 ivory tusks (equal to
opportunity for african elephants to begin a 1,550 elephants), and 6.2 tons of raw ivory
slow but promising recovery. (equal to about 794 dead elephants).

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