It was one of the most momentous events in the battle against poaching: 11 giant pyres of elephant tusks going up in flames in Kenya as the world looked on.
The largest-ever destruction of ivory, which took place in April, was the pinnacle of efforts to stop the slaughter of wildlife, while sending a powerful message to poachers.
As the year draws to an end, awareness of the devastation of poaching is greater than ever and countries have turned to high-tech warfare — drones, night-goggles and automatic weapons — to stop increasingly armed poachers.
“We obviously still have a very long way to go, but the level of political awareness we have reached is remarkable compared to six years ago,” International Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) secretary-general John Scanlon said.
Poaching was somewhat of a niche concern until about 2010 when the massacre of elephant and rhino began reaching such levels that conservationists and wildlife activists realized more had to be done to give the problem wider attention.
High-profile names were recruited to the cause, while calls grew louder for a total global ban on the ivory trade.
The move is slowly paying off, and this year saw hopeful signs that people might no longer be willing to watch as extinction goes unchecked.
China is the main source of global demand for ivory and in March the Chinese government announced a ban on new ivory imports.
Then, in early October, CITES bolstered protection of other threatened species, including sharks, pangolins and grey parrots.
Debates still rage over how best to fight elephant poaching, but conservationists unanimously welcomed CITES’ refusal to grant Namibia and Zimbabwe special authorization to sell their ivory stockpiles in order to fund elephant protection.
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