Hong Kong's ivory stockpile will not be destroyed but used for education
US believe destruction sends strong message, but city backs its use for education purposes
US wildlife officials say destroying stockpiles of illicit ivory is an effective way to curb a trade that threatens to wipe out elephant populations - but Hong Kong conservation chiefs remain unmoved by their stance.
Next month, the US Fish and Wildlife Service will use an industrial-scale rock crusher to destroy six tonnes of African and Asian elephant ivory - 95 per cent of its stockpile. It includes whole and carved tusks, and hundreds of smaller carvings that have been seized over the past 25 years.
It is the first time the US has destroyed ivory on such a large scale and the move is aimed at sending a clear message to poachers and criminals engaged in ivory trafficking.
"Only ivory needed for law-enforcement purposes or conservation education will be withheld from the crush," a US Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman said.
In Hong Kong, an Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) spokeswoman said that donating ivory to schools was the main way the department reduced its stockpile.
This year, customs has made four large seizures of ivory and it is estimated that the government has at least 16 tonnes of ivory in its stockpile. Just 3 per cent has been donated for educational purposes.
