Friends of Animals Spokesperson Available For Interview on the Impending Vote on International Ivory Ban

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Friends of Animals Spokesperson Available For Interview on the Impending Vote on International Ivory Ban

CONNECTICUT, DARIEN, Nov. 12 -/E-Wire/-- Friends of Animals Spokesperson Available For Interview on the Impending Vote on International Ivory Ban.

When: November 12, 2002 Who: Priscilla Feral, President, Friends of Animals

What: Available for interviews and commentary - Friends of Animals, the organization which drafted and championed the proposal that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) employed to impose a worldwide ban on trade in elephant ivory. The ban is under threat at the 12th Conference of the Parties to CITES currently underway in Santiago, Chile.

Five proposals -- from Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Zambia -- seek authority to sell stockpiled ivory and establish annual quotas for the sale of ivory, and the U.S. delegation to CITES has announced support for lifting the ban. Friends of Animals urges the world community to retain the ban on ivory trade.

According to FoA President Priscilla Feral, "The U.S. Delegation and the directives from the Bush administration see elephants as a commodity in a world where everything and everyone has a price. It is high time this thinking changed. We deplore the U.S. delegation's collusion with representatives of nations who would commercially exploit elephants for their ivory."

Adds Feral, "The worldwide illegal trade in wildlife products exceeds US$15 billion annually. Arguably, the current boom in poaching is directly attributable to the submission of ivory trade proposals to CITES. Dealers who predict a legal trade into which they can launder their contraband pay poachers to stockpile ivory that may be marketed immediately upon the opening of any trade. The first dealer in the marketplace can anticipate making the biggest profit."

Where: Priscilla Feral at (203) 656-1522

E-mail [REDACTED-EMAIL]

Priscilla Feral at (203) 656-1522, E-mail [REDACTED-EMAIL]

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