Another new bill, H.R. 226, The African Elephant Conservation and Legal Ivory Possession Act, has been introduced, and according to OneProtest, the man behind the horrendous bill that passed this week, legalizing extreme killing methods of bears and wolves in Alaska, Congressman Don Young, is among one of the measure’s main decision-makers.
A petition started by the advocacy organization on change.org, which has already garnered 1500 supporters in the past few days, strongly opposes the bill, which if passed, would legalize the possession and importation of ivory; which in turn, would be a devastating blow to the survival of the species.
Described by the organization as a bill that is “purely a gift to trophy hunters and serves no scientific, educational or conservation benefit,” it basically encourages the killing of more elephants by American trophy hunters who would legally be allowed to bring their prize home to the United States.
“We are at a precipice, and could see the end of elephants in our lifetime. Every 15 minutes an elephant is hunted. Wild elephants lost a third of their population between 2007 and 2014,” the petition states. “The only way to end the illegal ivory trade is to end the demand for all ivory, as hundreds of countries have agreed to do.”
H.R. 226 violates some key conditions that were agreed upon in 2016 by governments of 183 countries to enact protections for elephants as part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Making this news even more ironically troublesome is the fact that it comes at a time when China, the world’s largest ivory market, has finally begun to shut down the barbaric trade as well.
OneProtest rightly explains that “Even consideration of H.R. 226 would signal to China and other ivory trading countries that the U.S. does not take the protection of elephants, nor the enforcement of ivory restrictions seriously, and it would threaten to dismantle the crucial CITES agreement.”
More signatures are needed now on the petition, to implore the rejection of H.R. 226 and remove it from consideration in all committees, which will be delivered to Congress Members Young, Paul Ryan, Rob Bishop, Raul Grijalva and Grace Napolitano.
SIGN CHANGE.ORG PETITION HERE!
Source: OneProtest, change.org
Photo Credits: CNN, The Guardian, inhabitat.com, elephantvoices.org
