Tonnes of Elephant Ivory Burned in Ethiopia, Signalling a Zero Tolerance Policy to Poachers

Ethiopia on Friday burned 6 tonnes of seized elephant ivory along with the country's entire stock to set out a strong signal to poachers.

The country has now vowed to adopt a 'zero tolerance ' policy towards animal traffickers.

The move to torch the tusks came after Kenya made a similar gesture to demonstrate their commitment to safeguard Africa's dwindling elephant population.

 The ivory pieces, which were seized over 20 years have been majorly obtained from slaughtered elephants and is today said to be worth over $15 million dollars in the back market. Intricate ivory carvings, huge tusks, bracelets, Buddha carvings and necklaces were all torched together to make a strong statement.

Dawud Mume Ali, director of the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority, said "The message we're sending is that we have zero tolerance for poaching and illegal trafficking,"

"We are trying to save the elephants from extinction. This is part of that. We have to act rather than talk."

Elephant population has dwindled by 90 percent in Ethiopia since the 1980's and people feel efforts like this will go a long way towards detracting poachers from killing endangered animals. Some of the biggest demands for ivory comes from Asian markets, particularly China.

Ian Craig of the Stop Ivory project says the torchings were carried out to make ivory worthless.

"This is a rising tide. More and more African countries are recognising that sitting on ivory stockpiles is not sitting on Fort Knox," he said.

He goes on to add, "We want it to have no value. To be worthless. Elephants need to be worth money alive into national economies not through the export of their ivory. This is just a piece of a dead body. This is not a piece of art."