Ivory sales sought

South Africa will ask the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to consider a request to sell ivory stockpiles when the UN-sponsored body next meets in Kenya in
April, a government official told IRIN on Wednesday.

The official said that South Africa has a total elephant population of about 12,000. Most of the animals live in the vast Kruger National Park in the northeast of the country. According to the official, South Africa has a stockpile of about 30 mt of ivory and 150 mt of hide which the country hoped to sell. He said the tusks had been recovered in the park mainly from
animals which had died naturally or which had been culled to protect the environment.

"South Africa has not sold any ivory since the CITES ban on the trade in 1989, which has presented storage and cost problems for the country," said the official. He added that the country could earn about US $3.3 million from the sale.

Last year, neighbouring Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia were granted permission by CITES to sell part of their ivory stockpiles mainly to Japanese buyers in an experimental auction. The three countries are also reported to be intending to seek permission to sell more of their ivory stocks.

However, environmentalists and some African nations, including Kenya, are opposed to the sales because they argue that the trade would encourage poaching. The South African official, however, told IRIN that there had been very few poaching incidents in the country, and attributed this to proper policing of the country's game parks.