Key U.N. Committee Votes for Global Ban on Trade in Ivory

A key U.N. committee voted overwhelmingly today to ban all international trade in ivory in order to save the elephant from extinction.

Delegates said it is almost certain that a full conference on the U.N. Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species will later in the week approve the committee decision, adopted by 76 nations with 11 against and four abstentions.

The vote was on a Somali proposal to forbid trade in elephant products. But the proposal would also allow a panel of experts to recommend that countries with healthy herds be allowed to resume trade later--under strict controls.

“We are very grateful that we have been able to give a reprieve, a breathing space, to the species,” said Paul Chabeda, chief delegate of Kenya, whose president burned $3-million worth of ivory in July to dramatize his position.

Poachers have slaughtered about 1,500 elephants every week to meet worldwide demand, causing Africa’s herds to dwindle from about 1.3 million 10 years ago to around 500,000 now.