WildAid has released a statement concerning California AB 96, the bill set to toughen up California’s ivory ban.
I hope we will see other states follow, but it would be great to see similar legislation at the federal level.
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The bill introduced today by California Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins would close loopholes that have made if difficult, if not nearly impossible, to enforce California’s 40-year-old ban on ivory.
For decades, criminals have used the legal trade of ivory imported prior to 1977 in order to launder illegal ivory from Africa, where 33,000 elephants are killed for their tusks every year. With the passage of this bill, California would join New York and New Jersey in closing this loophole and adopting stiffer criminal and civil penalties on the sale of ivory.
WildAid supports AB 96 and encourages California’s legislature to join us in our fight to save Africa’s remaining elephants before it’s too late.
ABOUT WILDAID
WildAid is the only organization to focus on reducing the demand for wildlife products. WildAid works with hundreds of Asian and Western political figures, celebrities and business leaders, including the Duke of Cambridge, Yao Ming, Jackie Chan, Edward Norton and Sir Richard Branson, to dissuade people from purchasing endangered wildlife products. WildAid’s public service messages and educational initiatives reach hundreds of millions of people per week in China alone through donated media space. “When the buying stops, the killing can too.”
