Ivory stocks Karnataka’s new headache

BENGALURU: With no clear policy on disposal of ivory stocks in its inventory, the Karnataka Government now finds itself in a fix as it has been barred from giving it to the armed forces for display in messes and halls of their establishments.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF) has asked the state to stop issuing ivory to defence services on the ground that its display like a trophy sends a wrong message in a country where trade in ivory is banned. This comes after strong objections from the ecologists and wildlife biologists.

“We are no longer entertaining requests from the defence services for ivory after the MoEF issued an advisory six months ago to stop the practice. There are at least 50-60 requests pending with the Forest department, which we have turned down,” said Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF-Wildlife), Karnataka, Sanjay Mohan.

Karnataka has the largest habitation of Asian elephants. Trade in ivory is banned under the Wildlife Protection Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Tusks that are collected from dead jumbos or seized from poachers are stocked in the forest depot in Mysuru along with sandal, but managing the ivory stocks is becoming an elephantine problem.

There are no protocols defined by the MoEF regarding the disposal of ivory stocks. In 2011, the then chief wildlife conservator BK Singh had written to the Karnataka government for permission to give ivory to the defence services free of cost on written request from the Ministry of Defence, to which the state agreed.

In 2014, the state had further facilitated the process of ‘acquisition’ of ivory from the Forest department by allowing requisition from an officer not below the rank of Colonel. “Since there is no clarity on how to dispose of the stocks, the idea was to give some of the tusks to the armed forces for use as showpieces in clubs and messes. This was done for security reasons as the ivory stocked in government sandal depot in Mysuru is found to be insecure,” said Singh. 

“The state government had accepted the proposal and several pairs of tusks were allotted to different defence organisations for display. An undertaking was also taken from recipient regarding the security of the stock in their possession,” he added.

In 1994, the MoEF advised states and Union Territories to burn the ivory stocks after making an inventory and in the presence of a senior forest officer. “This was not feasible because it was a huge environmental hazard. Burning of ivory would also result in release of poisonous gases,” Singh pointed out.  

“The MoEF’s advisory that ivory should not be given for display to any organisation will lead to stockpiling in government depots, which will be increasingly insecure. Unless there is a proper method of disposal of ivory stock, banning display of the article by defence organisations is unjustified,” he argued.
When asked, elephant expert and consultant to WWF-India, Ajay Desai, said that government should come out with a mechanism to dispose of the ivory.