Singapore begins destroying US$13 million of ivory ahead of World Elephant Day
- The nine-tonne haul came from about 300 elephants, authorities said
- The event’s launch was live-streamed as the city state signalled its fight against the illegal wildlife trade
The city state, a nautical way point in shipments of banned animal products between Africa and Asia, is destroying tusks worth an estimated S$18 million (US$13 million), including a record 8.8-tonne seizure last year which authorities said came from nearly 300 African elephants.
In the event, streamed online, workers in hard hats were seen emptying trolley-loads of tusks into a skip where they were then pulverised by an industrial rock crusher.
The destruction of the ivory … will prevent it from re-entering the market and will disrupt the global supply chain of illegally traded ivory
The crushing process may take several days and the fragments will then be incinerated.
“The destruction of the ivory … will prevent it from re-entering the market and will disrupt the global supply chain of illegally traded ivory,” the National Parks Board said of the event, which comes ahead of Wednesday’s World Elephant Day.
