UK's Ivory Act extension set to protect five new species.

The UK government announced on Tuesday the 23rd of May that five new species, namely the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, killer whale (orca) and sperm whale are set to receive greater legal protections from the Ivory Act extension.

According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (“Defra”), the Hippopotamus is the species most at risk of ivory exploitation after elephants. The five species are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), and the hippopotamus, the walrus and sperm whale are classed as vulnerable on the International Union for the conservation of Nature’s red list. Defra has said that the animals already face multiple threats from human activity such as pollution, armed conflict, shipping lanes and climate change with ivory trading adding even more pressure.

The 2018 legislation which came into force to protect elephants, bans importing, exporting and dealing in items containing ivory. The Act is said to be one of the toughest of its kind and carries an unlimited fine or up to five years in jail. The concern that the ban of one form of ivory could lead to greater pressure on others was first raised during the debate of the ivory bill in 2018 and consultation on extending the ban to other species was launched in 2021. The ban is set to come into force after going through Parliament.

Under the Ivory Act there are very limited exceptions to the ban covering antiques.

In the governments most recent announcement it said more than “6500 registrations and certificates [were] issued for exempted items so that they continue to form part of our artistic and cultural heritage”.

Prior to the Ivory Act coming into force, the IFAW had encouraged members of the public to surrender their unwanted items containing ivory to be handed to government agencies for safe disposal in order to prevent them from re-entering the market. Thousands of items were handed over and the IFAW encouraged the government to put in place its own disposal system.

Charities including Frances Goodrum, the head of campaigns and programmes at the International Fund for Animal Welfare UK, said “[We] are encouraged by early indications that the ban is having a significant impact on the trade in elephant ivory, yet other species are still poached globally to meet an unnecessary demand for ‘luxury’ ivory products, including the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, sperm whale and killer whale.

“We welcome Defra’s decision to extend this powerful legislation, which will go a long way in cracking down on a damaging trade. Today is a good day for conservation and a step change towards international commitments to safeguard our natural world.”

In 2018 Hong Kong, which, for decades, earned a reputation as a wildlife trade hub and center for ivory production, successfully passed a law which came into effect in 2021 to ban elephant ivory production. The ban consisted of three phases: the banning of the import and re-export of pre-1925 ivory and the closure of local ivory markets.

The ban carries with it a maximum of 10 year imprisonment and HKD$10 million fine. It has widely been noted that the first two phases did little to curb the appetite for ivory in Hong Kong as evidenced by the 2019 seizure of 2.1 tonnes of elephant ivory. As of November 2021, there remained 47.1 tonnes of elephant ivory in the Hong Kong market.

Like in the 2018 Ivory Act, Hong Kong makes certain exceptions for antique ivory. Whereas in the UK there is a stringent registration process, with owners wishing to sell pre-1918 ivory item of outstanding artistic, cultural or historical value being required to submit details to a committee of museum specialists for assessment, the Hong Kong exception has been criticised for its poor oversight and determination mechanisms, allowing for illegal elephant ivory to be sold as antique.

Hong Kong’s ban on trading does not extend to the species now to be included in the 2019 Ivory Act. The Defra noted in its consultation that for the period between 2005-2014 the global trade to mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan of both walrus and narwhal raw tusks represented 41% of the global market for walrus and 28% of the global market for narwhal. Records beginning in 1975 show that Hong Kong is the single biggest buyer of hippo teeth, importing over 90% of the 771,000kg traded internationally. As of 2015, the amount of mammoth ivory imported in Hong Kong to had risen more than tenfold to 30 tonnes a year. Reports have suggested that illegal elephant tusks can be passed off as mammoth ivory and that the trading in mammoth tusks keeps up ivory demand.

With the continuing rise in online retail, in both reports which focused on Hong Kong and the UK, concerns were raised over online trade of ivory. The Born Free Foundation has noted that online listings make the detection of ivory products and identification of which species they come from exceedingly difficult. A survey by TRAFFIC found that there were 72 sellers with 196 ivory items listed for sale on three prominent e-commerce platform between November 2018 and October 2019 alone.

Courtesy of Claire Lai

Kim McCoy