Why The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Crushing One Ton of Poached Ivory Is Utterly Stupid
Earlier today, people across the globe could tune in live to watch the U.S. Fish & Wildlife service crush one ton of poached ivory, which had been carved into statues, containers and other collectibles. People with no concept of the "why" of things blindly applauded this idiotic, conceived PR stunt. "No illegal ivory!" they yell from positions of blissful, yet kind-hearted ignorance - getting behind a cause that is admirable in some ways.However, this ridiculous act is pointless, completely counter-productive, and does nothing to aid in the cessation of illegal poaching activity. Supporting this showmanship and farce is akin to hippies thinking Woodstock would somehow change the world and stop the Vietnam war.I myself am 100% against poaching, and against animal cruelty, but what does this accomplish? The government crushed collectible works of art ("art" being debatable). I'm sure this sends a powerful message to poachers that there is now even more demand, since one ton of ivory pieces were just taken out of circulation! Now they can charge even more. Animals died and these were created. The act of poaching to create these items is not something to celebrate, but to destroy them doesn't bring anything back to life and makes the deaths of those elephants and rhinos even more pointless. The items could have been sold to bring in money to aid in conservation programs (perhaps allowing a one time lifting on the sale of ivory in the U.S.) or placed in a museum as part of an exhibit on illegal poaching, etc. Crushing it was the absolute worst option.The people actually doing the poaching don't give a damn now many ivory sculptures the U.S. - or any country - steamroll over. They'll keep poaching until something is actually done to alter the market for the product and to protect these creatures.The solution to both of these lies in property rights.For example, take the plight of the White Rhino, from a case study put together by the Property and Environment Research Center.
"In 1900, the southern white rhinoceros was the most endangered of the five rhinoceros species. Less than 20 rhinos remained in a single reserve in South Africa. By 2010, white rhino numbers had climbed to more than 20,000, making it the most common rhino species on the planet.Saving the white rhino from extinction can be attributed to a change in policy that allowed private ownership of wildlife. While protecting the rhinos encouraged breeding, the ranchers were able to profit by allowing limited trophy hunting.Poaching for rhino horn, which is in high demand for medicinal and ornamental purposes, had also devastated the rhino population. CITES banned the commercial sale of rhino horn, which caused black market sales to sky rocket and encouraged poaching. If the ban were lifted, ranchers are ready to supply the market by harvesting the horns humanely, which then regrow just like fingernails.Strong property rights and market incentives have provided a successful model for rhino conservation, despite the negative impact of command-and-control approaches that rely on regulations and bans that restrict wildlife use."
So, keep on hosting idiotic public relations stunts and fire up the social media likes on "Upworthy," while doing absolutely nothing to actually solve a fixable problem in the real world.In the meantime, libertarians and property rights advocates will keep trying to help in tangible ways, if only the rest of the world would let us.The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Check out our YouTube Channel!Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!Join our brand new Facebook Group: The Lions of Liberty Forum
