Local News in Brief : Beilenson Bill to Limit Import of Ivory Passes

A nine-year legislative effort ended in victory for Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Tarzana) this week when Congress approved a bill intended to save the threatened African elephant by prohibiting the import of its ivory from countries not committed to protecting the animal.

The measure, which President Reagan is expected to sign, was passed Monday as part of re-authorization of the 1972 Endangered Species Act. Beilenson submitted an earlier version of the African Elephant Conservation Act in 1979, but had been unable to get it through the Senate.

“During the last two decades, there has been a steady and drastic decline in the population of elephants in many African countries,” Beilenson said. “Much of the decline is attributed to poaching--the illegal killing of elephants--to obtain their valuable ivory tusks for sale.”

African elephants, officially designated as “threatened,” number fewer than 700,000, a 50% decline in the past decade, experts say.

Beilenson’s bill will impose a moratorium on ivory imports into the United States from African countries without effective elephant conservation programs. It will also ban ivory imports from countries that export carved ivory if those countries import raw ivory from African nations that do not have conservation programs.