SINGAPORE, June 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of 7.9 tonnes of ivory, estimated to be worth about 13 million Singapore dollars (9.56 million U.S. dollars), were crushed in Singapore on Monday.
This is the first time that the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) has crushed seized ivory.
The authority aimed to "send a strong signal of Singapore's zero tolerance on the use of Singapore as a conduit to smuggle endangered species and their parts."
The destruction process was performed by an industrial rock crusher before the ivory was incinerated at an eco-waste plant in western Singapore. The ashes will be used as landfill at Pulau Semakau subsequently.
Singapore's Senior Minister of State for National Development and Home Affairs Desmond Lee witnessed the public destruction process on Monday morning.
"By crushing the ivory, we ensure that it does not re-enter the ivory market. Tackling this illicit trade requires close international cooperation, and also the assistance of the public and non-governmental organizations," said Lee.
TRAFFIC, wildlife trade monitoring program of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and WWF-Singapore on Monday called upon the Singapore government to follow up the ivory destruction event with tough law enforcement action.
"Today's event is symbolic of the government support for the fight against ivory trade, but needs to be followed up with meaningful action to address the country's unenviable role as a transit point in the smuggling of ivory from Africa to Asia," said Elaine Tan, CEO of WWF-Singapore.
According to WWF, Singapore reported five ivory seizures, accounting to more than seven tonnes of illegal ivory from 2013 to 2015.
In addition, it has been implicated in 16 other shipments amounting to 4.1 tonnes of ivory, that was slated for Singapore, or had passed through its ports and been seized elsewhere.
It's estimated that as many as 30,000 African elephants are killed each year across Africa to feed a lucrative, global black market for ivory despite the ban on the international trade in ivory.
