China wants approval to buy ivory

GENEVA, Switzerland, July 13 (UPI) -- China is seeking "approved buyer" status for an upcoming auction of ivory from African elephants, a move conservationists fear could doom the animals.

The auction is being held under the auspices of the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species, The Independent reported.

The ivory comes from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, which won an exemption from a worldwide ban on selling ivory in 1997. The countries promised at the time that all ivory would come from elephants that had died a natural death or were rogues.

In 1999, when the first auction was held, Japan was the only country approved as a buyer, able to give assurances it was preventing illegal ivory from crossing its borders.

"This is going to mean a return to the bad old days where elephants are being shot into extinction," said Allan Thornton of the Environmental Investigation Agency, and international group that investigates and campaigns against environmental abuses.