WASHINGTON - Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) is pressing House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) and Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs Subcommittee Chairman John Fleming (R-La.) to hold a hearing on the ongoing wildlife poaching crisis in Africa. The recent increase in poaching -- particularly elephants and rhinoceros -- for ivory, horns and other body parts destined for the lucrative Asian black market was highlighted in last week’s premiere of the new PBS documentary Battle for the Elephants.
“We cannot stand idly by as these inspiring, iconic animals are slaughtered," said Rep. Markey, the Ranking of the Natural Resources Committee. “Rhino horn has become the new snake oil and elephant ivory is the trinket maker’s choice. We must cut off these tusk smugglers’ supply before the last elephant is killed to make an ashtray."
In 2011, poaching of African elephants hit the highest levels seen in a decade and more illegal ivory was seized than in any year since 1989: nearly 39 tons - or 4,000 elephants’ worth. With ivory selling at $1,000 per pound on the black market, it is believed that tens of thousands of elephants were killed in 2011 alone. The death toll for 2012 has not yet been determined. 688 African rhinos were poached in 2012, decimating already critically low populations of both black and white rhinos. Rhino horn, newly sought after in Vietnam and other East Asian countries because it is mistakenly thought to cure cancer, is currently valued at $30,000 dollars per pound - more than a pound of gold or heroin.
