Beautiful!

Thank you, President Barack Obama.

HISTORIC: The World Just Took One Huge Step Forward For Elephants

https://www.thedodo.com/historic-decision-for-elephants-1368876801.html?utm_source=The+Dodo+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e534b996b0-09_27_2015_NL&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4342b46fc5-e534b996b0-142171897

In a move already being hailed as " historic," U.S. President Barack Obama and China's President Xi Jinping agreed to ban ivory sales in their respective countries on Friday.

http://www.wildaid.org/news/us-and-china-agree-ban-ivory-trade

"The United States and China commit to enact nearly complete bans on ivory import and export, including significant and timely restrictions on the import of ivory as hunting trophies, and to take significant and timely steps to halt the domestic commercial trade of ivory," the White House stated in a fact sheet released Friday . 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/09/25/fact-sheet-president-xi-jinpings-state-visit-united-states

"The two sides decided to further cooperate in joint training, technical exchanges, information sharing, and public education on combating wildlife trafficking, and enhance international law enforcement cooperation in this field. The United States and China decided to cooperate with other nations in a comprehensive effort to combat wildlife trafficking."

The announcement marks the first high-level commitment by Xi to end ivory sales in China, the world's largest market, and follows a pledge made by Chinese officials in May to phase out the domestic legal trade, WildAid http://www.wildaid.org/ said in a statement they released immediately following the announcement. The U.S. is the world's second largest market for ivory.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/opinion/banning-ivory-sales-in-america.html?_r=0

While international ivory trading has been banned since 1989, the legal domestic trade of ivory in Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Vietnam and the U.S. has had a hand in feeding a poaching crisis that has spiraled out of control. By the time the international ban was put in place, African elephant populations plummeted from 1.3 million in 1979 to just over 600,000 by the end of the '80s. 

https://www.thedodo.com/community/AdamMRoberts/it-is-our-responsibility-to-save-the-elephants-again-1058751573.html

Since January 2012 alone, more than 103,000 elephants are thought to have been slaughtered by poachers. Today, it's estimated that there are only about 450,000 wild African elephants left.

http://www.defenders.org/elephant/basic-facts

Warning: Graphic image below

What happened today will hopefully be the beginning of the end of a poaching crisis that, according to WildAid, has been killing 33,000 elephants each year.

"Today's announcement is the greatest single step that could be taken to reduce poaching for elephants. Legal ivory trade has always been used as a cover to launder poached ivory, and when it was authorized by the previous administration in China in 2009, poaching escalated dramatically in Africa," WildAid CEO Peter Knights said in a press release. 

http://www.wildaid.org/

"The Chinese government has supported our ivory demand reduction campaign, led by Yao Ming and Li Bingbing, and has provided support for conservation efforts in Tanzania and other African countries. We thank both Presidents for their personal support for elephant conservation and call upon Hong Kong to join China and the U.S. in consigning the ivory trade to the trash can of history."

Learn what WildAid does for elephants here. 
http://www.wildaid.org/news/us-and-china-agree-ban-ivory-trade
 
And add your name to a pledge to help endangered species here.
http://www.wildaid.org/pledge

    

TOPICS: HISTORIC DECISIONS FOR ANIMALS PRESIDENT OBAMA ELEPHANTS IVORY TRADE ANIMAL WELFARE AFRICAN ELEPHANTS ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE PRESIDENT XI JINPING CHINA ENDANGERED SPECIES ANIMAL VICTORIES

#WorldRhinoDay ~ September 22, 2015

ASK FOR A COMPLETE BAN ON IVORY AND RHINO HORN SALES, STATE BY STATE, 
IN THE U.S.A.

Email action we can take, to request state by state ban on ivory sales and rhino horn trade.
If you are a U.S.A. resident, please take the time to contact your senators and representatives,
to request that they initiate a ban on ivory sales in your state.

You can find your U.S.A. senator email contacts here:
U.S.A. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
EMAIL ADDRESS CONTACTS
http://www.house.gov/

You can find your U.S.A. House of Representative email contacts here:
U.S.A. SENATE
EMAIL ADDRESS CONTACTS
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

If you prefer to make contact via phone, your
U.S.A. senator phone contacts are here:
U.S.A. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PHONE NUMBER CONTACTS
http://www.house.gov/representatives/

If you prefer to make contact via phone, your
U.S.A. representative phone contacts are here:
U.S.A. SENATE
PHONE NUMBER CONTACTS
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Here is the email we are sending, please feel free to use it, or even better to alter it, and share your thoughts. That's the best way to be heard.


Hello!

I am contacting you regarding the issue of allowing the sale of ivory products and/or rhino horn to continue to be legal in our state.

Certainly, you are aware that the trade in elephant ivory tusks and rhino horns fuels the illegal poaching industry that threatens to drive our African elephants and rhinos to the brink of extinction within a few years.
The African elephant and rhino population simply can not procreate quickly enough to offset the deadly decimation rendered by ivory poachers.

Please read the statistics provided by National Geographic here:
100,000 Elephants Killed by Poachers in Just Three Years, Landmark Analysis Finds
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140818-elephants-africa-poaching-cites-census/

While we do have a federal of ban of ivory in effect, it is being challenged:
United States Tightens the Noose on the Ivory Trade
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140211-united-states-rules-wildlife-trafficking-ivory-science/

The challenge to overturn the U.S.A ban is being spearheaded by the N.R.A.
NRA Campaigns Against The Plan To Save The World’s Elephants
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/03/05/3362801/nra-ivory-elephants-guns/

A state by state ban on ivory sales within the U.S.A. would serve to tighten the clamp on ivory poaching by making it illegal to trade ivory.
I am asking that you please initiate and follow through with a bill that would effectively render all ivory sales illegal in our state. New Jersey has already done so, and has included rhino horn in their ban.
New Jersey Passes First Ever U.S. Law To Completely Ban Ivory And Rhino Horn
https://www.thedodo.com/new-jersey-passes-first-ever-u-658977827.html

Thank you very much for taking this dire issue into consideration. I will await your reply.
Sincerely,