Kenya to destroy more than 100 tonnes of elephant tusks

Kenya will set fire to more than 100 tonnes of ivory later in a move aimed at showing its commitment to saving Africa's population of elephants. President Uhuru Kenyatta will ignite the first of 11 huge pyres in Nairobi National Park, which are expected to burn for several days. The ivory represents nearly the entire stock confiscated by Kenya, amounting to the tusks of about 6,700 elephants. But some disagree with the approach, saying it can encourage poaching. The burning comes after African leaders urged an end to illegal trade in ivory.
Mr Kenyatta, who hosted the summit in Nanyuki, said on Friday the ivory trade meant death for elephants and death for tourism. Experts have warned Africa's elephants could be extinct within decades. But there is opposition to the ivory burn in Kenya, the biggest in history. Some conservationists say destroying so much of a rare commodity could increase its value and encourage more poaching rather than less. Botswana, which is home to around half of Africa's last four hundred thousand or so elephants, is opposed to the burn and its president will not attend the event at Nairobi National Park.
Demand for ivory comes largely from Asia, with the main trafficking route being through the Kenyan port of Mombasa. The love of ivory goes back millennia. Its pure, translucent beauty and the ease with which a tusk can be carved into intricate sculptures have given it a lasting value throughout the ages.
Africa is home to between 450,000 and 500,000 elephants but more than 30,000 are killed every year for their tusks. Tanzania has lost 65% of its elephant population in the past five years. The Kenyan ivory pyres will be seven times the size of any stockpile destruction so far, and represent about 5% of global ivory stores.

Source: BBC