Illegal Elephant Ivory Sales Increasing in Egypt

Is hurting the elephants to get their ivory tasks to be sold to illegal buyers okay?

The illegal industry in elephant ivory is prospering in Egypt due to the absence of law enforcement, brought about with the entry into the black market of the Chinese buyers, deemed to be the key consumers.

Based on the recent report, Egypt is still one of Africa’s largest prohibited markets for illegal ivory items wherein no ivory items can be sold legally in Egypt without a special permit. Despite the buying and selling of these illegal items, no special permit has ever been issued.

According to senior government officials interviewed by the report’s authors, Esmond Martin and Lucy Vigne, since 2009, only two ivory seizures had taken place in Egypt, both at Cairo airport, while there had been no confiscations of ivory items from retail outlets since 2003.

During the latest survey carried out in March and April 2011, the authors counted 8343 ivory items openly for sale in Cairo, a city described as the “carving centre of the country”.

Despite the recent political unrest almost all outlets and workshops were open in the old market—Khan al-Khalili—Cairo’s main centre for the manufacture and retail sale of ivory products.