Elephants and Ivory
May 11, 2015 | 0 comments
It is most difficult to comprehend that anyone would kill an elephant to poach the ivory for purely decorative purposes. That is particularly the case as elephants are the closest animal group in terms of intelligence and empathy to the Hominidae family, composed of gorillas, chimps and humans. Historically, ivory was harvested for such special purposes as billiard balls, piano keys and decorative carvings. Synthetics have replaced ivory for pure functional usage whereas new wealth in China and Vietnam has spurred an even greater demand as a blatant, garish display of prosperity. Recently, Bill Fitzhugh, Archeologist and Director of the...