Remembering Buddha's Precious Pachyderm

Displaying a remarkably wide variety of behaviors that indicate the presence of compassion, grief, learning, memory, mothering, play, tool use, self-awareness and possibly even language, elephants are ranked right beside primates and cetaceans (whales and dolphins) when it comes to intelligence. So it's not surprising that one of Buddhism's "Seven Jewels of Royal Power" is the "Precious Elephant," which symbolizes the calm and noble strength of one who is on the path towards enlightenment.

But Laos, whose main cultural influence is the conservative Theravada Buddhism, and Vietnam, which is 85% Buddhist, have a black-market business relationship that is decimating this endangered species. Laos is the main source of illegal ivory sold in Vietnam, where prices may be the highest in the world.

According to a recent ScienceDaily article, the Vietnamese really love the stuff: A new report released by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC says that cut ivory is going for as much as $1,800 per kilo there. Though the ivory trade was outlawed in Vietnam in 1992, retailers exploit a loophole in the law which allows them to sell ivory that was obtained before the ban. They simply restock their inventory with new ivory under the pretense that it was acquired earlier. According to estimates by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there are less than 1,000 Asian elephants remaining in the country. And the number continues to drop.

The TRAFFIC report recommends that Vietnam comply with its obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Perhaps poachers in Laos and ivory consumers in Vietnam might also remember what this noble "jewel of power" symbolizes on Buddha's path -- and realize that it loses all its strength when it's been slaughtered for its teeth.

GET INVOLVED

• Donate to TRAFFIC to support the monitoring of the illegal ivory trade
  
• Adopt an elephant from the World Wildlife Fund
  
• Sign a petition urging the North American and European members of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to oppose the proposal to designate China as a trading partner in raw ivory
• Donate to Save the Elephants
  
• Sign a petition urging eBay to ban all ivory sales on its site

RELATED POSTS

• 2,000 Elephants Missing in Chad (December 15, 2008)
• Getting Close to the Elephants of Samburu (August 19, 2008)
• Elephant Extinction Possible by 2020 (August 3, 2008)
• Future Uncertain for Thailand's Elephants (July 31, 2008)
• Listening to the Secret Lives of Elephants (July 5, 2008)
  
• South Africa to Start Elephant Culling (May 5, 2008)
• African Conservation Gets $10 Million Gift (May 1, 2008)

photo: Alexander Klink