Geneva - Officials of the United Nations conservation body CITES said yesterday that a decision to allow a one-off sale of ivory by two African countries to Japan would help save elephants from threats to their survival.
Speaking at a Geneva news conference, they said the sale - by Zimbabwe and Namibia and possibly later Botswana - would be accompanied by careful monitoring and could be stopped promptly if there was any sign of a surge in poaching. The decision to allow the sale, probably next month, has been strongly criticised by some non-governmental wild animal protection organisations and by Mr Richard Leakey, world-renowned Director of Kenya's Wildlife Service, who has described the move as "very retrogressive".
