Despite a notable track record on animal rights issues and a statewide ban on elephant tusks, the City of San Francisco remains second in the nation for ivory imports, according to SPCA’s Dr. Jennifer Scarlett.
Many of the imports make their way to Chinatown, where the ivory market ranks just behind that of China. Los Angeles and New York are also popular destinations for ivory, federal authorities have previously said.
“At this pace the African-American elephant will be gone in about five years,” according to Scarlett.
Though California long ago passed a law prohibiting the sale of elephant parts, Scarlett notes that the statute does not apply to parts that came into the country prior to 1977. That’s a problem, she added, because “there’s no way to date ivory.”
Under a bill currently moving through the California Assembly, that exemption would be eliminated and penalties would be strengthened. Rhinos would also be protected under the proposed law.
Read more about the efforts to combat illegal ivory trading here.