THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It’s final! The forest department will not burn down the huge ivory stock in its possession - about 12 metric tonnes of it - and would pursue options for utilising it for common good.
Recently, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had turned down a request from the department to destroy the stock by burning. The department claimed that the bonfire would send a strong message against elephant poaching and illegal ivory trade.
It also cited the space and security issues in maintaining the growing stock. The chief minister, however, asked the department to explore more practical options like utilising it for educational, research or awareness purposes. “We have started work on a high security locker room at the headquarters. The collections at the central strongroom and those at the divisional or range offices would be shifted to the new facility mid-year,” said PCCF (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden Surendrakumar.
The ivory stock, as old as the department itself, keeps growing every year. Eight pairs were added to the central strongroom last year. The law authorises the department to take over the tusks of dead elephants, both wild and captive animals. Tusks seized from poachers, raw or carved ivory taken over from traders or craftsmen are also added to the stock. The biggest stock is kept at the central strongroom at the headquarters, around 5.5 metric tonnes. All strongrooms have mahassars in which details of the tusks are recorded.
The new strongroom will also house a big stock of seized sandalwood artefacts. The central strong room has about one tonne of artefacts, including large five-foot tall idols. The new locker room is modelled on bank locker rooms. It will have high-end security facilities including remote alarm connecting the police control room.
Greens for destroying stock
Wildlife activists want governments to destroy their ivory stock
Kenyan government had set on fire 105 tonnes of tusks in 2016
Ivory trade banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Kerala has about 6,000 wild elephants and 500-odd animals in captivity