Oct. 18: Indian elephants are under threat once again. This time these endangered species are in trouble following a contentious decision by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

Cites has given permission to Japan and China to auction nearly 108 tonnes of stockpiled ivory from four African countries. Conservationists over the world are worried that the move was bound to fuel poaching in India and Nepal. The auction of the ivory will begin in less than two weeks.

There is strong apprehension that permitting such a sale will provide illegal traders and poachers an opportunity to launder illegal stock. India’s neighbour China has the largest illegal market of wildlife products and in recent years several multiple tonne of seizures have been made at Chinese ports. Cites is an international agreement between more than 170 countries, monitoring legal trade in specimens of wild animals and plants.

"Permitting such a sale provides illegal traders and poachers with an opportunity to launder illegal stock," Wildlife Trust of India vice-chairman Ashok Kumar warns, adding elephant poaching may increase to feed the continual demand from these two importer nations, also known to be part of the world’s largest illegal ivory trade. Asian elephant ivory is preferred over African ivory in Japan for making hankos or signature seals, which form a major proportion of ivory use in this country.

Earlier this year, Cites had approved one-off sale of stockpiled ivory from South Africa, Bostwana, Namibia and Zimbabwe for generation of revenue for these countries. This was strongly opposed by conservationists the world over, calling it a threat to the remaining elephant population in the world. Noting that isolated population of elephants have been completely wiped out in West and Central Africa, International Fund for Animal Welfare programme director Michael Wamithi fears flooding the market with over 100 tonnes of ivory will put this endangered species in even further jeopardy.

Reports from several African nations already indicate towards a spike in elephant poaching following approval of the sale by Cites, proving correct the long-standing fear of conservationists.