Eastern and Southern Africa will take the next Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to another ugly argument about ivory trade. They are pitching for a big fight. Kenya and her 'friends' want to transfer all elephants to be on Appendix I, which will send a clear message - NO IVORY TRADE for anyone.
Another suspected trafficker of elephant ivory is set free by a magistrate at Mombasa Law Courts. Directly charged for the trafficking of 1097kgs of elephant ivory in two containers in December 2016, Mr. Gitonga walks out of court a free man.
A court in Tanzania has convicted and sentenced Yang Feng Glan, infamously named ‘The Ivory Queen’ and two of her associates to 15 years in prison. This is welcomed news signaling an end to a 5 year protracted case where Ms. Yang and two Tanzanians were charged with economic crimes for trafficking in more than 706 pieces of elephant tusks in 2014.
