A new lust for elephant skin jewelry could decimate Myanmar's giants - PBS NewsHour
Nsikan Akpan:
The elephant skin is also ground into powder for pharmaceutical medicine. Both beads and powder are marketed on social media sites like Baidu and WeChat.
Chinese officials denied Elephant Family’s report, responding via state media that “The amount of elephant skin imported into China is very limited.”
Under international law, countries are allowed to import elephant skin from four African nations. But trading of Asian elephant in any form is prohibited, except in rare cases.
To thwart potential sales of these new products in the U.S., Japan or other popular destinations for elephant parts, the Smithsonian, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and groups working in Myanmar are making public service announcements.
