The African elephant is an endangered species. To help the population several countries banned the sale and trade of Elephant Ivory to discourage hunting elephants for their ivory tusks. The biggest countries to do so were China and the United States of America. Now the United States has lifted it's ban on Ivory and has put the African elephants in a dangerous position again. The Trump administration argues that it will be good for conservation efforts which is contrary to the position of the United States during the Obama Administration.

Ban on importing ivory

The United States banned the import of ivory and the trade of ivory in 2014. The move was to stop the hunting of elephants for their tusks and to take away incentives in a corrupt industry. Now the United States has partnered with Zambia and Zimbabwe to lift the restrictions on hunting elephants for their tusks. The claim that is made by the Trump administration is that the money that is made from Big Game hunting will be used to fund conservation efforts in the area. That comes after claims that the industry is rife with corruption. This lifting of the ban on elephant ivory was announced while the country of Zimbabwe is in political turmoil.

Conservation efforts for the African elephant

The conservation efforts around the African elephant have been going on for some time. The overall population of elephants declined by six percent in Zimbabwe and thirty percent overall across eighteen countries. The administration claims that hunting in the region will help the conservation efforts in the area although the Humane Society and others disagree.

The Obama administration also had a different opinion on hunting elephants for their ivory when the ban was put into place.

This follows a pattern of the Trump administration to undo all of the policies of his predecessor regardless of the impact.

The new rule will affect elephant ivory from 2016, 2017 and 2018 assuming that the applicants have met all other requirements. There has been a quota of five hundred elephants set in different areas. People will be allowed to hunt elephants on private grounds or in specified areas on the outskirts of national parks. Fees paid by hunters in Zimbabwe are allegedly supposed to go towards conservation efforts in the area. It is unclear how this will affect the elephant population in Africa or the ban on ivory that China has put into place.
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