Hong Kong Ivory Hunger Blasted

A frontline park ranger from the Democratic Republic of Congo delivered an emotive testimony to Hong Kong legislators against the ivory trade in Hong Kong on Tuesday, as the city faces criticism over how it plans to phase out the trade. “The truth is that people are being killed, limbs being chopped off, people are seeing their families being destroyed because of the trade,” said Erick Mararv, the manager of Garamba National Park in Congo, where more than 20,000 elephants are killed every year, Quartz reported. Hong Kong is considered the world’s largest ivory trading market thanks to China, which has one of the most demanding appetites for ivory in the world, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The Hong Kong government proposed phasing out all local ivory trade in December but ivory traders have strongly opposed the proposal and demanded compensation if it is implemented. “I don’t think compensation can work,” said Mararv. “It’s completely the wrong message. We cannot pay for this commodity.”