We have the opportunity to BAN the ivory trade and shut down domestic ivory markets across the globe. But it needs major support.
Sign your name to show your support for shutting down ivory markets and banning the ivory trade:
In 2002, elephant ivory cost $120 per kilogram in China. By 2014, it cost over $2,000.[1]
The worldwide elephant population is plummeting because of the illegal ivory trade. And unless something changes quickly, we risk living in a world where these majestic animals don’t exist in the wild.
Now is the time for change.
The World Conservation Congress is meeting NEXT MONTH to discuss ways to protect some of our most threatened species. One resolution calls for the CLOSURE of domestic markets for elephant ivory and a global ban on the ivory trade.[2]
Elephant populations are in freefall as poaching drives the brutal killing and butchering of these precious animals, for their tusks and for their ivory.
This resolution has the potential to pull back elephants from the brink of extinction.
But time is running out. Stopping the demand for ivory and banning the trade is critical if we want to save elephants.
Sign your name in support of closing the global ivory market and BANNING the ivory trade: http://go.saveanimalsfacingextinction.org/Global-Ivory-Trade
Action For Nosey Now: Nosey Needs You To Submit Comments To Help Change The Law!
***ACTION NEEDED BEFORE AUGUST 31st 2016***
It's not often that USDA/APHIS actually asks for the public to comment on issues that affect animals like Nosey, so it's crucial that we get involved & actually submit our comments/ideas!
***To get you started & make it super easy for you, we've put together some ideas of comments for you to submit, which are further down the page***
INFORMATION: The Regulations.gov site says they want the public to comment on the points numbered 1-8 below:
"Animal Welfare; Petition to Develop Regulations to Prohibit Public Contact with Potentially Dangerous Animals"
We are again reopening the comment period and will accept all comments we receive on or before August 31, 2016 for a petition requesting amendments to the Animal Welfare Act regulations and standards pertaining to physical contact with dangerous animals.
We are especially interested in receiving public comments on the questions presented below. Responses to these questions will help further inform our thinking on the handling of dangerous animals:
1. What factors and characteristics should determine if a type of animal is suitable for public contact? When the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) describes an animal as dangerous, there are certain characteristics we use to classify the animals, such as the size, strength, and instinctual behavior of an animal, risk of disease transmission between animals and humans (i.e., Zoonoses such as Herpes B), and ability to safely and humanely handle (or control) the animal in all situations.
2. What animals should APHIS consider including under the definition of dangerous animals? For example, are all nonhuman primates dangerous? We currently identify some animals as dangerous, including, but not limited to, nondomestic felids (such as lions, tigers, jaguars, mountain lions, cheetahs, and any hybrids thereof), wolves, bears, certain nonhuman primates (such as gorillas, chimps, and macaques), elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, moose, bison, camels, and common animals known to carry rabies.
3. What animals may pose a public health risk and why? What risks does public contact with dangerous animals present to the individual animal and the species and why?
4. What are the best methods of permanent, usable animal identification for dangerous animals?
5. What are the most humane training techniques to use with dangerous animals?
6. What scientific information (peer-reviewed journals preferred) is available that identifies the appropriate weaning ages for non-domestic felids, bears, elephants, wolves, nonhuman primates, and other dangerous animals?
7. What industry, organizational, or governmental standards have been published for the handling and care of dangerous animals?
8. What constitutes sufficient barriers for enclosures around dangerous animals to keep members of the public away from the animals? What methods (structures, distance, attendants, etc.) are needed to prevent entry of the public into an enclosure and keep the animal safe while still allowing for meaningful viewing
***ACTION NEEDED BEFORE AUGUST 31st 2016***
Below are a few of our ideas/suggestions for comments that you could submit. You could include all the points below or just focus on answering 1 or 2 of the discussion points from APHIS, it's your choice
Feel free to copy & paste the comments below BUT FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT IT'S BEST TO PUT OUR COMMENTS (below) INTO YOUR OWN WORDS ~ Here are some tips for submitting effective comments which you may find helpful http://bit.ly/2aJvuV6
In response to the 8 suggested discussion points from APHIS, I would like to offer the following input:
1. I suggest assigning highest priority to the intrinsic social and emotional needs of the species in question. For example, Is the species classified as endangered or threatened?
2. No animal that is threatened, endangered or has been on such a list is suitable for public contact.
Any animal that has ever struck out against a human being should ever again be permitted to have contact with the public.
3. The current system of managing elephant health, particularly zoonotic diseases, fails to protect the public. USDA/ APHIS has a responsibility to monitor transmittable diseases such as Tuberculosis since dangerous animals cross state and county lines where the rules vary and enforcement of safe practices becomes nearly impossible. With technology as it is today, all medical records of all animals that come into contact with the public need to be made readily accessible online without the burden of filing a FOIA.
5. Where elephants are concerned, training and humane treatment are entirely incompatible. To be trained, an elephant is removed from the very life it is wired to live, the life that allows the entire species to survive.
6. Where elephants are concerned, there is no age where weaning is appropriate as in their natural environment the baby elephant alone makes that determination. To "wean" a baby elephant goes against the behaviors the species itself depends on for survival.
7. For elephants, there are multiple successful sanctuary models that function with consideration for the animal's needs first. Save Elephant Foundation, Chiang Mai, Thailand, Wildlife SOS, India, The Elephant Sanctuary, Tennessee, US, Performing Animals Welfare Society, California, US, are but a few of those organizations that are well-established in operating care facilities for elephants. The standards these organizations set for care and handling elephants is far superior to what the USDA currently permits. APHIS regulations desperately need updating in this area.
8. Elephants should not be involved with public contact at all. The potential for accidents is too great. The history of accidents and exposure to illness is undeniable. The suffering imposed on elephants in order to make contact possible is inhumane. There is no safe and humane way to contain elephants.
HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR ANIMALS LIKE NOSEY!
Please Submit your comments before August 31st ~ Visit the link below & click the blue box that says "Comment Now!"
Develop Regulations to Prohibit Public Contact with Potentially Dangerous Animals
| Elephant rescue: Indian villagers save baby elephant from well as mother cries |
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[1] The New York Times. How the Ivory Trade is Wiping Out African Elephants. July 26, 2015.
[2] IUCN World Conservation Congress. 007 - Closure of Domestic Markets for Elephant Ivory. July 26, 2016.
[2] IUCN World Conservation Congress. 007 - Closure of Domestic Markets for Elephant Ivory. July 26, 2016.
