Kenyan
authorities have built towering pyres of more than 100 tons of elephant
tusks that will be burned on Saturday, in what wildlife officials
believe will be the largest single destruction of ivory in history.
In front of the tusks are illegal ornaments made from ivory, such as a Chinese warrior on horseback with his fist in the air.
As local conservation groups and media visited the ivory-burning site in Nairobi National Park on Thursday, workers were putting the finishing touches to the stacks of ivory as rangers from the Kenya Wildlife Service stood guard nearby.
The ivory is now piled into some dozen giant pyres, ready to be lit when the Giants Club wildlife summit being held in Laikipia ends on Saturday.
Dignitaries led by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta — who last year set fire to 15 tons of ivory — are expected to light a fuel gel which will flow into the center of each pyre and ignite pieces of confiscated endangered African sandalwood. A mixture of diesel and kerosene will be pumped through pipes into each pyre, creating a sufficiently high temperature to incinerate the ivory, a process expected to last many days before everything is reduced to ashes.
The 105 tons of ivory and over 1 ton of rhino horn were transported in shipping containers from across Kenya, representing the vast majority of the country's stockpile.
Conservationists worry that there is a a real threat of elephants becoming extinct in the next 50 years because of poaching bankrolled by the illegal trade in ivory, fueled especially by demand in China.
(AP)
A ranger from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) stands guard near some of
around a dozen pyres of ivory, in Nairobi National Park, Kenya
Thursday, April 28, 2016. The wildlife service has stacked 105 tons of
ivory consisting of 16,000 tusks, and 1 ton of rhino horn, from
stockpiles around the country, in preparation for it to be torched on
Saturday to encourage global efforts to help stop the poaching of
elephants and rhinos.
A ranger from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) stands guard near an
ivory statue in front of one of around a dozen pyres of ivory, in
Nairobi National Park, Kenya Thursday, April 28, 2016. The wildlife
service has stacked 105 tons of ivory consisting of 16,000 tusks, and 1
ton of rhino horn, from stockpiles around the country, in preparation
for it to be torched on Saturday to encourage global efforts to help
stop the poaching of elephants and rhinos.
A ranger from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) adjusts the positioning
of tusks on one of around a dozen pyres of ivory, in Nairobi National
Park, Kenya Thursday, April 28, 2016. The wildlife service has stacked
105 tons of ivory consisting of 16,000 tusks, and 1 ton of rhino horn,
from stockpiles around the country, in preparation for it to be torched
on Saturday to encourage global efforts to help stop the poaching of
elephants and rhinos.
Workers walk past as ivory statues stand in front of one of around a
dozen pyres of ivory, in Nairobi National Park, Kenya Thursday, April
28, 2016. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has stacked 105 tons of ivory
consisting of 16,000 tusks, and 1 ton of rhino horn, from stockpiles
around the country, in preparation for it to be torched on Saturday to
encourage global efforts to help stop the poaching of elephants and
rhinos.
Maasai in ceremonial dress stand around after having their photograph
taken with visitors, next to one of around a dozen pyres of ivory, in
Nairobi National Park, Kenya Thursday, April 28, 2016. The wildlife
service has stacked 105 tons of ivory consisting of 16,000 tusks, and 1
ton of rhino horn, from stockpiles around the country, in preparation
for it to be torched on Saturday to encourage global efforts to help
stop the poaching of elephants and rhinos.
Ivory statues stand in front of one of around a dozen pyres of ivory, in
Nairobi National Park, Kenya Thursday, April 28, 2016. The Kenya
Wildlife Service (KWS) has stacked 105 tons of ivory consisting of
16,000 tusks, and 1 ton of rhino horn, from stockpiles around the
country, in preparation for it to be torched on Saturday to encourage
global efforts to help stop the poaching of elephants and rhinos.
A ranger from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) adjusts the positioning
of tusks on one of around a dozen pyres of ivory, in Nairobi National
Park, Kenya Thursday, April 28, 2016. The wildlife service has stacked
105 tons of ivory consisting of 16,000 tusks, and 1 ton of rhino horn,
from stockpiles around the country, in preparation for it to be torched
on Saturday to encourage global efforts to help stop the poaching of
elephants and rhinos.
Maasai in ceremonial dress stand around after having their photograph
taken with visitors, as a ranger from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)
guards one of around a dozen pyres of ivory, in Nairobi National Park,
Kenya Thursday, April 28, 2016. The wildlife service has stacked 105
tons of ivory consisting of 16,000 tusks, and 1 ton of rhino horn, from
stockpiles around the country, in preparation for it to be torched on
Saturday to encourage global efforts to help stop the poaching of
elephants and rhinos.
