Dozens of statuettes, a sculpted column, two pairs of tusks, a set of chess: the Manhattan prosecutor presented Thursday the largest illegal ivory capture ever made in the American megalopolis. He said he had decided to “dry up the market”.
The total of the seized objects reached a value of some 4.5 million dollars (4.36 million francs). The authorities estimated that all the objects had necessitated the massacre of at least twelve elephants.
“New York has long been a hub” for the ivory trade and the largest market in the United States, ahead of California and Hawaii, said the head of the New York State Department for the Protection of Nature , who participated in the survey. “But this kind of behavior will no longer be tolerated,” he stressed.
Antique store
“It is inexcusable and immoral”; “We are going to dry up this market which contributes to the slaughter of elephants,” assured the prosecutor, recalling that New York was one of the first American states, in 2014, to adopt strict laws prohibiting the sale of ivory, for protect endangered pachyderms.
The goods were seized from an antique store. They were not displayed in the window, but upstairs, for customers feeling “confident”, according to investigators.
The owners of the store have been charged with illegal wildlife trade. They risk, in addition to heavy fines, up to three years in prison.
African elephants are the most threatened with extinction, with a population that further declined by 30% between 2007 and 2014. At that time, they were down to some 350,000.
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