Did you know that hippos are the new elephants in the ivory world? That’s right and quite sad. So the elephants have drastically reduced in population. And the poachers are looking for alternatives, since it seems they can’t survive without ivory.
Fact: Hippo teeth are made of ivory just like elephants tusks.
It’s very sad that the need for ivory will lead to extinction of more species. Walruses and narwhals are not safe either. In short, any species that have any part of it containing ivory. Is not safe in our planet.
Hippos have already been categorized as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Facing more threats such as:
- Being hunted for meat .
- Habitat loss due to human encroachment.
- Poaching for illegal and unregulated sale of their teeth.
- Climate change that is drying up their wetland habitats.
- Human-wildlife conflicts.
From poachers view, hippo’s ivory is cheap and easy to work on. Hence most preferred compared to elephant tusks. The consumers can not easily distinguish between the two, making it a booking business for the evil guys.
Hippo teeth was traded legally before. The traded teeth had to be from the dead hippos due to natural causes. Hence the trade was open and allowed. This is one of the fuel behind the illegal hippo teeth trade. They are literally killed for their teeth.
The predominant source is Africa including countries such as Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, as well as Zimbabwe. Sadly they are exported via Mombasa in Kenya to Asia. A clear indication that Kenyan hippos too maybe on the same predicament.
Africa if not serious will lose all its wildlife sooner than we thought. Attacking these species aimlessly and caring much on the dirty money we get from it. Will continue to push us to our own grave. The title of being safari destination is slowly fading away.
Just the other day, a documentary showed how the Mara river is dying. So the greater migration will die with it too. And we will no longer host the eighth wonder of the world.
It’s time we scream and fight harder for our wildlife. Not accepting to be blinded by any amount of money presented to us. Invest time to understand and appreciate our natural resource. As we together agree that they deserve protection just like the other citizens.
Hippo
Read the full article here.
Cheche Winnie 
In England trading in ivory is illegal unless the ivory can be proven to be over 5oyrs old
LikeLiked by 2 people
That’s great but evil people always find a way to have their way above the law. All efforts are essential to ensure that the ivory ban is 100% effective.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally agree!
LikeLiked by 2 people