Associated Press
By ELIAS MESERET
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Black smoke billowed into the air of the Ethiopian capital Friday as 6.1 tons of illegal elephant tusks, ivory trinkets, carvings and various forms of jewelry went up in flames on a wooden pyre. Government officials had started the blaze to discourage poaching and the ivory trade.
Ethiopia becomes the second African country this year to burn its ivory stockpile as global efforts increase for the conservation of elephants, a vulnerable species whose numbers are quickly dwindling as they are killed for their ivory tusks.
Dawud Mome, Director General of the Ethiopian Wildlife and Conservation Authority, said the ivory being burnt was confiscated from various people in the last 20 years. Most of the ivory was being smuggled through Ethiopia to a third country, he says.
Video: Ethiopia burns 1.6 tonnes of ivory (The Guardian)
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Related:
Ethiopia destroys six-tonne stockpile of poached ivory (BBC News)