Update (March, 2015): This bill failed to pass in 2015.
Bill Description:
Prohibits any person from selling, trading, bartering, offering for sale, possessing with intent to sell, or importing with intent to sell ivory or rhinoceros horn. Ivory is defined the tooth or tusk from any species of wildlife.[teaserbreak]
Exemptions:
The Department of Land and Natural Resources may grant a permit to people wishing to sell ivory or rhino horn to a bona fide educational or scientific institution, provided that the restricted material was legally acquired by the seller no later than July 1, 1990.
Activity expressly authorized by federal law is also exempt.
Background:
African elephants are nearing extinction due to the high price of ivory and consumer demand. An average of 96 elephants are slaughtered daily by poachers, and over 100,000 have been killed in the past 3 years. Read more about the horrific ivory trade here.
Meanwhile, rhinos are killed for their horns, which are believed to have medicinal powers in parts of Asia. This market is fueling the slaughter of more than 1,000 rhinos per year. Only 25,000 black and white rhinos remain across all of Africa, and they could become extinct in the wild in as little as 12 years.
The U.S. is the second largest ivory market in the world, after China, and also a significant destination for rhino horn. Hawaii is an Asian-Pacific hub where materials from animals are traded on the way to the mainland. The state is the third largest market in the nation and the largest online market. Legislation banning the trade in these products will reduce the demand, which in turn will reduce the killing.
Read the full text here.