skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

35K Elephants Killed Yearly: U.S. Group Works to Save Them

play audio
Play

Monday, March 30, 2015   

RICHMOND, Va. – Close to 35,000 African elephants are killed every year for their tusks, according to some estimates, and U.S. wildlife experts are ringing the alarm bells in hopes the world will listen.

Peter LaFontaine, campaign officer for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in Washington, says while China is the number one consumer of ivory, a lot of it also is trafficked and sold in the U.S., sometimes passed off as antique.

So, an effort is underway by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to implement what LaFontaine describes as a near complete ban on ivory.

"And not only would this create certainty for law enforcement officers, it would really draw a bright line for consumers, who otherwise have been sent mixed messages on what's legal and what's not," he explains.

For instance, some ivory products can be legally purchased if they were produced before 1976.

LaFontaine says a ban would close many of the loopholes. He says there are about 400,000 African elephants left – down from 10 million just a century ago.

LaFontaine stresses the effort to save elephants needs to be three-pronged – with more assistance on the ground to combat the poachers, working to put an end to the trafficking and corruption that surrounds the illegal trade, and curbing consumer demand for ivory, with laws as well as education.

"As soon as you get people to understand that every piece of ivory comes from a dead elephant, you've already made terrific headway into stopping the problem of buying," he points out.

Elephants are currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, but IFAW and other wildlife groups are trying to get their status changed to endangered.

This would mean greater restrictions, including an end to American trophy-hunters who kill an average of 400 elephants per year for sport.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021