Online platforms roped in to fight sale of ivory
Carousell, Facebook committed to banning content involving selling of ivory products
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Sellers of ivory products online are now being "hunted down" after a domestic ban on such items kicked in this month.
The authorities are working with online platforms to ensure that all ivory listings are removed, while sites such as Carousell and Facebook have committed to prohibiting such content, advertisements and listings.
Those found selling elephant ivory or ivory products, or who have put these items on public display for the purpose of sale, may be charged under the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act. If convicted, they can be jailed for up to 12 months or fined up to $10,000 per specimen, not exceeding $100,000 in total, or both.
Dr Adrian Loo, group director of wildlife management at the National Parks Board (NParks), told The Straits Times that the board's staff have been working closely with e-commerce platforms, including Carousell, to remove postings or listings that display any ivory product, or the likeness of it.
A spokesman for Carousell said the platform uses techniques such as artificial intelligence to detect these prohibited items accurately, even in product listings where details may not be explicitly stated.
A spokesman for Facebook said it prohibits content and advertisements attempting to trade, sell or purchase wildlife and products or parts from endangered or threatened animals, though the social media platform did not elaborate on how this is carried out.
Ms Anbarasi Boopal, deputy chief executive of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, or Acres, said that online trade in ivory on social media and other trading platforms remains prevalent.
Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) - which Singapore is a party to - global trade in elephant ivory has been banned since 1990.
In 2019, the Republic announced a ban on domestic trade in elephant ivory, which came into effect on Sept 1, 2021. Prior to that, it allowed domestic trade if the dealers could show that their items were imported before 1990, or acquired before the elephant species in question was listed in Cites.
Ms Anbarasi said that the two-year grace period allowed time for sellers to ensure that they could comply and clear the stocks they possessed.
However, there were instances in which ivory products were mislabelled or claimed to be old stock during this period, so the blanket ban now is clearer when it comes to enforcement, she said.
Singapore's efforts to tackle the illegal commerce have also been given more bite with the use of new technology and genetic sequencing tools.
For instance, ivory products that have been processed and may not have identifiable physical characteristics, such as items used in parts of bird cages, will be taken to NParks' Centre for Wildlife Forensics for DNA analysis.
"If these items are confirmed to be elephant ivory or ivory products, they will be destroyed to prevent them from re-entering the market," said Dr Loo.
In June and July last year, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority informed NParks of several packages that were suspected of containing ivory.
"The specimens were examined and physical patterns distinct to ivory were observed on some pieces," said Dr Loo.
The items were taken to the Centre for Wildlife Forensics for further molecular analysis.
Of the 95 samples, 62 were identified as originating from the Savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) and 16 from cattle (Bos taurus), while the remaining 17 samples yielded inconclusive results as the specimens had highly degraded DNA.
These cases are being filed in court.
To prevent the use of Singapore as a trans-shipment hub for illegal wildlife trade, border detection capabilities are being enhanced, with the deployment of a K-9 unit with dogs specially trained to sniff out illegal wildlife smuggling.
Correction note: In an earlier version of the article, we said Singapore prohibited international trade in elephant ivory in 2019. This is incorrect. In 2019, Singapore announced a ban on domestic trade in elephant ivory, which came into effect on Sept 1, 2021. We are sorry for the error.
