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Read our <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-policy-a6184181.html">Privacy</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html">Cookie</a> Policies to find out more.</p> </div> <div class="tabs"></div> <div class="region region-content"> <article class="full-article" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/NewsArticle"> <meta itemprop="mainEntityOfPage" content="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/zimbabwe-to-lobby-for-lift-on-international-ivory-ban-a7048321.html"> <div itemprop="publisher" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Organization"> <meta itemprop="name" content="The Independent"> <link itemprop="sameAs" href="http://www.independent.co.uk"> <link itemprop="logo" href="https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/brand-logo.png"> </div> <header> <ol vocab="http://schema.org/" typeof="BreadcrumbList" class="breadcrumbs clearfix"><li property="itemListElement" typeof="ListItem"><a property="item" typeof="WebPage" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/news"><span property="name">News</span></a></li><li property="itemListElement" typeof="ListItem"><a property="item" typeof="WebPage" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world"><span property="name">World</span></a></li><li property="itemListElement" typeof="ListItem"><a property="item" typeof="WebPage" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa"><span property="name">Africa</span></a></li></ol> <h1 itemprop="headline" class=" ">Zimbabwe to lobby for lifting of international ivory ban</h1> <div class="intro"> <p>They claim the sales would allow the continuation of important conservation work</p> </div> <ul class="caption meta inline-pipes-list"> <li class="author" itemprop="author" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"> <span itemprop="name"><a href="/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/author/megan-townsend" title="Megan Townsend" itemprop="sameAs">Megan Townsend</a></span> </li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425/https://twitter.com/mmtowns">@mmtowns</a> </li> <li title="25 May 2016 20:15 London"><time data-microtimes="{"published":"1464203700000","display":0,"changed":"1464203700000"}" datetime="Wed, 05/25/2016 - 20:15">Wednesday 25 May 2016 20:15 BST</time></li> <li class="comments"> <a href="#commentsDiv" id="comment-count" class="icon-comment"></a> </li> </ul> <div id="gigya-share-btns-1"></div> <div class="fb-like"> <iframe src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425if_/https://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FTheIndependentOnline%2F&width=450&layout=button&action=like&size=large&show_faces=false&share=false&height=35&appId=235586169789578" width="70" height="35" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;float:left;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe> <div class="fb-info">Click to follow<br/>The Independent Online</div> </div> </header>  <figure itemprop="associatedMedia image" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" class="featured-media medium-width"> <meta itemprop="representativeOfPage" content="true"> <meta itemprop="url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425/https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2016/05/25/14/ivory-stockpile.jpg"> <meta itemprop="width" content="2048"> <meta itemprop="height" content="1536"> <picture title="ivory-stockpile.jpg">  <source srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425im_/https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/article_medium/public/thumbnails/image/2016/05/25/14/ivory-stockpile.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 620px) and (max-width: 929px)"/> <source srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425im_/https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/article_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/05/25/14/ivory-stockpile.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 930px) and (max-width: 1239px)"/> <source srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425im_/https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/05/25/14/ivory-stockpile.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 1240px)"/>  <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425im_/https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/article_small/public/thumbnails/image/2016/05/25/14/ivory-stockpile.jpg" alt="ivory-stockpile.jpg" title="ivory-stockpile.jpg"/> </picture> <figcaption itemprop="description" class="caption"> Zimbabwe state they have £23m in ivory stockpile, which they want to put toward conservation of their elephant populations <span class="copyright">Getty</span> </figcaption> </figure> <div class="article-wrapper clearfix"> <div class="main-content-column"> <div class="text-wrapper" itemprop="articleBody"> <p>Zimbabwe will lobby to lift the international ban on ivory, claiming the sales would allow the government to gain funds to combat poaching and further conservation programmes. They claim the current population of elephants, around 84,000, have become too much for reserves to manage. </p> <p>Currently in the midst of an economic crisis, the government said in February it had raised $1m (£690,000) from exporting elephants to China. They estimate they have twice the population of elephants they can afford to support with available food and land.</p> <p>“Safeguarding Zimbabwe’s elephants is wholly dependent on establishing regular open market sales of elephant ivory to fund management and enforcement actions” the government have stated in a paper that will be presented during September's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITIES) meeting in South Africa. </p> <p>“Between 2002 and 2014, Zimbabwe is estimated to have lost 439 metric tons of ivory worth $226m (£154m) to illegal hunting,” according to Zimbabwe’s CITES proposal, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170307152425/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-25/zimbabwe-will-lobby-for-lifting-of-global-ivory-trade-ban"><em>Bloomberg</em></a> reports. “Zimbabwe views this as a direct result of the ivory trade ban. The country’s current stockpile of ivory weighs about 70 tonnes and is worth an estimated $35m (£23m).”</p> <div class="relatedlinkslist inline-block-related-list inline-block-left"> <h2 class="box-title">Read more</h2> <div class="relatedlinkslist-content" style="min-height: 10px;"> <ul class="related"><li><a data-author="Alex Dymoke..." data-nid="7010656" data-publish_date="02-05-2016" href="/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/campaigns/GiantsClub/giants-club-summit-100-tonnes-of-ivory-up-in-smoke-but-the-hard-work-is-on-the-front-line-a7010656.html">Giants Club summit: 100 tonnes of ivory up in smoke- but the hard work is on the front line</a></li> <li><a data-author="Alex Dymoke..." data-nid="7008171" data-publish_date="30-04-2016" href="/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/kenya-largest-ivory-burn-in-history-elephants-illegal-wildlife-trade-poaching-a7008171.html">Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history in call to end illegal wildlife trade</a></li> <li><a data-author="Alex Dymoke..." data-nid="6963786" data-publish_date="30-04-2016" href="/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/campaigns/GiantsClub/kenya-to-stage-largest-ever-ivory-burn-a6963786.html">Kenya to stage largest ever ivory burn</a></li> </ul></div> </div> <p>National Park’s, which cover around 11 per cent of Zimbabwe’s total land mass, are surrounded by “hostile people who are trying to recover their wasted investment in elephants,” according to the report, claiming the ban has eliminated incentive to protect wildlife.</p> <p>The government said <span style="line-height: 20.8px;">in November </span>it would deploy soldiers at the country’s game parks to combat poaching, which resulted in the deaths of 77 elephants due to cyanide poisoning at Hwange National Park. African elephants are currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, with poaching being the main threat to their numbers in Central Africa.</p> <meta itemprop="datePublished" content="2016-05-25T21:15:00+01:00"/> <ul class="inline-pipes-list"> <li> More about: </li> <li><a itemprop="keywords" href="/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Elephants">Elephants</a></li> <li><a itemprop="keywords" href="/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/ivory">Ivory</a></li> <li><a itemprop="keywords" href="/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Zimbabwe">Zimbabwe</a></li> <li><a itemprop="keywords" href="/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/conservation">Conservation</a></li> </ul> <div id="gigya-share-btns-2"></div> <a href="/web/20170307152425/http://www.independent.co.uk/syndication/reuse-permision-form?url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/zimbabwe-to-lobby-for-lift-on-international-ivory-ban-a7048321.html" 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