Source: thehindu.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Singapore\u00a0<\/strong>makes its biggest illegal ivory seizure since 1932, impounding a haul of nearly nine tonnes of contraband tusks from an estimated 300 elephants, authorities said on July 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The illegal cargo, discovered on July 21 in a container from the Democratic Republic of the Congo being shipped to Vietnam via Singapore, also included a huge stash of pangolin scales \u2014 the third such seizure in as many months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Officials said both the ivory and pangolin scales were in a container declared to be loaded with timber destined for Vietnam and passing through Singapore, a major transhipment hub for global trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On inspection, authorities found 8.8 tonnes of elephant ivory, the National Parks Board, Customs and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said in a joint statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ivory haul was valued at $12.9 million and is \u201cthe largest seizure of elephant ivory in Singapore to date\u201d, it said, and was estimated to have come from 300 African elephants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also found in the container were 11.9 tonnes of pangolin scales and estimated to be worth about $35.7 million. The scales were estimated to have come from 2,000 of the mammals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was the third interception by Singapore of smuggled pangolin scales since April and brought the total haul in just three months to 37.5 tonnes worth $112.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Singapore said the seized items would be destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pangolins, also known as scaly anteaters, are critically endangered. They are the world’s most trafficked mammals because of their meat, which is considered a delicacy, and their scales, which some believe to have medicinal qualities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The global trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989 after the population of the African giants dropped from millions in the mid-20th century to around 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.<\/p>\n