Live data from Hacker News

China announces ban on ivory trade by end of 2017

bbc.com

11–20 of 184 posts

Re: China announces ban on ivory trade by end of 2017

#12

Woot! Thank you China! Elephants are my favorite animal and it's sad to see such magestic creatures slaughtered for such nominal things. Or any animal for that matter. Shark fin soup? Seriously what a waste of a needed predator.

What is there to like about elephants? Honest question. To me they look like gigantic rocks who shit a lot. But of course that could be said of many animals. ;P

While beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, they have a very complex social behavior. If anything, their intelligence seems to be vastly underestimated. So, in my eyes, there is lots to like about them and they are one of my favorite animals.

Re: China announces ban on ivory trade by end of 2017

#13
What will happen to the people who hunt/trade ivory. Specifically, those who live in villages and depend on it as a source of income. Will there be assistance to wean them off elephant hunting.

I hope they get new skills and do not poach other animals.

Re: China announces ban on ivory trade by end of 2017

#14
post #2

Good move, but that gives those traders about 12 months to "kick up the volume" of ivory traded. After that, it becomes a typical black market affair, kinda like trade in stolen art works.

China's effort to reduce shark fin soup consumption was incredibly effective. I hope this will be equally successful.

... and apparently one of the most effective strategies was using Yao Ming and Jackie Chan as spokespeople against shark fin consumption!

Re: China announces ban on ivory trade by end of 2017

#16
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is there to like about elephants? Honest question. To me they look like gigantic rocks who shit a lot. But of course that could be said of many animals. ;P

They also wreck habitat for other animals who are in more danger. They are very destructive eaters.

Few open grasslands would exist but for some of the large herbivores. The north American prairie was largely created by buffalos.

Re: China announces ban on ivory trade by end of 2017

#17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China's effort to reduce shark fin soup consumption was incredibly effective. I hope this will be equally successful.

... and apparently one of the most effective strategies was using Yao Ming and Jackie Chan as spokespeople against shark fin consumption!

I remember the day Mr. T convinced me not to do drugs.

Re: China announces ban on ivory trade by end of 2017

#18
post #9

OK... how about rhino horn? Compared to rhinos, elephants are in zero danger. Not defending poachers, but this is the wrong thing to prioritize. (Also cheetahs, and probably a lot of other species)

Ivory and tusks, rhino horn, pangolin scales, tiger penis, tiger pelts, tiger paws, turtle shells, shark fins, the list goes on and on and on... a trip to a generic street market in China and you can find endangered animal species parts being sold openly for shockingly cheap.

How about banning any and all animal products involved in the quackery "medicine" trade or ludicrous edible "delicacy" which are the driving force behind the problem to begin with?

Re: China announces ban on ivory trade by end of 2017

#20
post #13

What will happen to the people who hunt/trade ivory. Specifically, those who live in villages and depend on it as a source of income. Will there be assistance to wean them off elephant hunting. I hope they get new skills and do not poach other animals.

This is like saying, in response to a crackdown on mugging, "I hope the muggers get the assistance they need to get new skills and not move on to other crimes."

I'd prefer if the poachers actually all got arrested, and got new skills breaking big rocks into smaller rocks.

Post reply on HN