Kenya’s president set fire to 15 tons of elephant tusks during World Wildlife Day Tuesday to discourage poaching and trade in ivory, ABC news reported.
Twenty-five years since ivory trade was banned, new demand from emerging markets threatens Africa’s elephants and rhinos, President Uhuru Kenyatta said at the event. African countries are concerned about the scale and rate of the new threat to endangered wildlife species, he said.
“Many of these tusks belonged to elephants which were wantonly slaughtered by criminals. We want future generations of Kenyans, Africans and the entire world to experience the majesty and beauty of these magnificent beasts,” Kenyatta said before setting fire to a three-metre-high pile of huge elephant tusks doused with gas.
“Poachers and their enablers will not have the last word.”
Higher demand for ivory is fuelling elephant killings by poachers across Africa. Save The Elephants said last year that 100,000 elephants were killed in Africa between 2010 and 2012. On Thursday, China imposed a one-year ban on ivory imports amid criticism that its citizens’ huge appetite for ivory threatens the existence of Africa’s elephants.