As China prepares to impose a domestic ban on the ivory trade, a new report has found that the price of raw ivory there is plummeting.
It's good news for Africa's elephants, which have been poached by the thousands for their tusks. Many of those tusks are then smuggled to China, which has been one of the world's largest markets for the banned material.
The Save the Elephants researchers found that the wholesale price in early 2014 was $2,100 per kilogram; by last month, it had dropped to $730 per kilogram.
"An economic slowdown has resulted in fewer people able to afford luxury goods; a crack-down on corruption is dissuading business people from buying expensive ivory items as 'favours' for government officials, and the Chinese government has made a strong commitment to close down the nation's legal ivory trade," Save the Elephants said.
China made the announcement last year after years of pressure from environmental groups. As NPR's Chris Joyce has reported, U.S. and Chinese officials have been negotiationing an end to China's domestic ivory trade since 2015. At the time of the announcement, environmentalists hailed it as a crucial move that could prevent elephants from becoming extinct.
As China prepares to impose a domestic ban on the ivory trade, a new report has found that the price of raw ivory there is plummeting.
"An economic slowdown has resulted in fewer people able to afford luxury goods; a crack-down on corruption is dissuading business people from buying expensive ivory items as 'favours' for government officials, and the Chinese government has made a strong commitment to close down the nation's legal ivory trade," Save the Elephants said.
