More great news. The sale of all elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn is now banned in France, Environment Minister Ségolène Royal has decreed before leaving for the Arctic where she will examine the effects of global warming.
The ban “concerns all species of elephant and rhinoceros”, Royal said in a statement Wednesday, although special exemptions may be granted.
And it does not forbid the possession of ivory and rhinoceros horn.
Many private individuals and museums own artefacts made from ivory, some of considerable age.
With African and Asian elephant populations threatened by the slaughter of animals for their ivory, a worldwide ban on the trade came into effect in 1989, but it did not cover the sale of ivory obtained before that date.
Poaching of elephants and rhinoceroses, whose horns are used in traditional Chinese medicine, has continued and the populations have continued to decline.Read On
