Kenya Conducts World’s Largest Ivory Burn

by
posted on April 30, 2016
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
hlf_ivory_update_f.jpg

How many elephants does it take to create a pyre of ivory in excess of 100 tons? Ask Kenya, which today burned 105 tons of confiscated illegal ivory tusks, ivory products and rhino horns in the capital city of Nairobi in what is said to be the largest ivory burn in world history. As for what could possess someone to light the match, Kenyan wildlife officials explain it's a display that will combat the growing threat of poaching. If that reasoning makes you scratch your head, you're not alone.

As reported by the Washington Post
, CNN and countless other news outlets, "From a Kenyan perspective, we're not watching any money go up in smoke," said Kenya Wildlife Service Director General Kitili Mbathi. "The only value of the ivory is tusks on a live elephant." What? Further sidestepping common sense, officials admitted the incinerated ivory was worth more than $150 million. And we hunters thought the ivory burn reported by the NRA Hunters' Leadership Forum last week in Camaroon was bad. Oh, it was--accounting for 2,000 poached elephant tusks. It's just that this burn is so far past an amount most of us can even visualize.

The market for ivory across much of Asia, and particularly China, has remained strong in recent years, driving poachers in sub-Saharan Africa to poach vulnerable species. Kenyan officials hope the attention the ivory burn is receiving will jolt ivory consumers in China who might not understand the consequences their demand has had on the world's elephant population. According to Scientific American, "When Kenya burns $100 million worth of ivory, they’ll say, 'What the hell was that about?' It will help open their eyes to what is actually happening," Kenya's top wildlife service official, Richard Leakey, said.

Meanwhile, as many as 100 elephants are said to be poached per day across Africa and, based on research from Colorado State University, poachers destroyed more than 100,000 African elephants from 2010 to 2012 alone.

As for the American homefront, the Obama administration and state lawmakers have proposed bans on legally-owned ivory products in the United States, claiming that such bans are necessary to preserve African elephants. But take it from NRA-ILA: While the NRA supports efforts to stop poaching and the illegal trade of ivory, these proposals would do nothing to protect elephants in Africa and Asia, but would instead make sellers of legal ivory potential criminals overnight, as well as destroy the value of property held by countless gun owners, art collectors, musicians and others.

From a common sense standpoint, it seems likely that the ivory and rhino horns remaining are now even more attractive to poachers who will tap into the economics of supply and demand as live elephants and rhinos are not only larger than life: They're bigger targets than ever.

Latest

W3570 TAH 1528
W3570 TAH 1528

Hardware Review: Nosler Whitetail Country Ammunition

Frank Melloni gives an in-depth review of this new whitetail slayer from Nosler.

NRA Now Accepting Applications for Public Range Grants

The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is pleased to announce the reopening of the NRA's Public Range Fund. Established in 2009, the NRA Public Range Fund is a grant-matching program that encourages city and county governments, along with state or federal agencies, to work with the NRA to build and improve public ranges across the United States.

#SundayGunday: Browning Citori 825 Sporting

This week on #SundayGunday, we’re checking out the Citori 825 Sporting shotgun, from Browning. A classic over/under, this is a scattergun designed to shine on the sporting clays course.

In Memoriam: Frank R. Brownell III, June 24, 1939 – June 18, 2025

American Hunter sadly marks the passage of a legendary businessman, marketer and friend of hunters, gun owners and the Second Amendment: Frank R. Brownell III, who with his father, Bob, and son, Pete, placed Brownells Inc. and its products foremost in the minds of gun owners everywhere, passed away on June 18, 2025, after a lengthy illness, just six days away from his 86th birthday.

An Ode to the Ruger 10/22

Philip Massaro writes a glowing encomium of his father's favorite little rimfire—the Ruger 10/22.

Grant Deadlines Approaching in Arizona and Michigan

Groups in Arizona and Michigan still have time to apply for grants from their respective wildlife departments.

Interests



Get the best of American Hunter delivered to your inbox.