Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 12 • Number 1 • 23rd January 2012

Malaysia Seizes Third Major Ivory Shipment in Six Months

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Malaysian officials earlier this month seized a major shipment of illegal ivory, marking the third such incident in the past sixth months at Port Klang, Malaysia’s largest port. The half-tonne of ivory had been shipped from Cape Town, South Africa, with Malaysia listed as the shipment’s final destination. Although trade in ivory has been banned since 1989, the number of large-scale seizures of shipments has increased by seventy percent over the last decade (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 5 September 2011).

Last year was the biggest trade year to date for elephant tusks, according to a recent report by TRAFFIC, a watchdog in the international trade of wildlife. The number of major seizures of illegal product and the estimated amount of ivory poached more than doubled from 2010 to 2011, highlighting this growing demand.

“This is the worst year ever for large ivory seizures - 2011 has truly been a horrible year for elephants,” Tom Milliken of TRAFFIC said of last year’s numbers. Many observers attribute the growth in demand for ivory to the growing wealth in Asia. With new levels of disposable income, the demand for ivory ornaments and rhino horn (used in traditional medicine) has increased noticeably. Experts note that estimates most likely understate the growth as models traditionally underestimate the amount of ivory smuggled in secret.

Four of the biggest illegal shipments of ivory seized in 2011 were discovered in Malaysian ports. Officials say that the seizures resulted in 1,700 ivory products weighing over eight tonnes being confiscated by the Malaysian government. This figure represents over a third of the twenty-three tonnes seized worldwide in 2011 and points to Malaysia as the primary transit point for poached ivory destined for markets in China. Kuala Lumpur has been quick to defend its reputation and says it is acting to clamp down on illegal wildlife trade.

“Malaysia has ramped-up its efforts to stem ivory smuggling through the country,” said Kanitha Krishnasamy, TRAFFIC’s Southeast Asia Senior Programme Officer. “Now thorough diligent investigations both in Malaysia and South Africa, arrests, and prosecutions must follow.”

Malaysian authorities say they have a suspect in custody in conjunction with this latest seizure.

Experts say Malaysia’s clamp down has resulted in a spike in ivory trade incidents in other Asian countries, notably China. In 2011, China seized the year’s second largest amount of poached ivory, totaling over two tonnes. In 2009, a UN investigation found a trend towards Chinese expatriates living in Africa controlling the ivory trade. Milliken explains that Chinese workers in Africa have “contacts with the end use [ivory] market and now they are at the source”.

According to TRAFFIC, Chinese expats are poised to take control of the poached ivory market for the foreseeable future. Official corruption is also beginning to play a larger role as some of the recently seized ivory has been traced to government stockpiles of confiscated ivory. TRAFFIC suggests that syndicates controlling the ivory trade have begun to bribe government officials in return for confiscated ivory.

It is currently believed that the majority of illegal ivory shipments originate in Kenya or Tanzania. Figures indicate that approximately fifty elephants a month are being killed for their tusks in Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve. The rate of rhino deaths is also on the rise with 440 rhinos killed in 2011 compared to 333 in 2010. Over ninety percent of the rhinos remaining on the African continent reside in South Africa.

ICTSD Reporting; “Malaysia seizes half a tone of ivory,” TRAFFIC, 9 January 2012; “Watchdog marks grim ivory trade record,” THE CANBERRA TIMES, 2 January 2012, “Worst year for elephants since ivory trade banned with at least 2,500 slaughtered for ivory,” MAIL ONLINE, 29 December 2012.