The impact of the ivory trade on the future of elephants was revealed at Dublin Zoo today as Customs officers handed over seized jewellery for display.
The ivory necklaces and bracelets from South Africa were confiscated from a posted parcel at Dublin Airport.
Dublin Zoo director, Leo Oosterweghel, said the items will be put on show to inform visitors about the impact of the ivory trade.
“African elephants are killed for their ivory and the poaching of these animals is a serious problem,” said Mr Oosterweghel.
“In 1970 there were an estimated 400,000 African elephants, in 2006 this number had dropped to only 10,000.”
Over the last two and a half years Revenue officers have seized 153 listed specimens including food supplements, coral jewellery, a crocodile skin handbag, snakeskin handbag, the skin of an African lynx and six live turtles.
While no-one in Ireland has ever been prosecuted, smugglers can face a maximum fine of €63,500 and/or two years in prison.
Shay Doyle, Customs manager at Dublin Airport, warned holidaymakers not to purchase goods they suspect are from endangered species.
“People who buy souvenirs made from rare animals are not only contributing to the plight of endangered species but they are also supporting criminals involved in the slaughter and illegal trafficking of these animals,” he said.
He also warned that people buying diet pills over the internet could also be breaking the law.
It was revealed the majority of Customs postal seizures were of food supplements containing a plant called Hoodia Gordonii. When consumed the endangered plant from southern Africa is thought to work as an appetite suppressant.
The latest find will be exhibited at Dublin Zoo alongside confiscated elephant tusks to raise public awareness of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (Cites), which protects 4,000 animal and 25,000 plant species.
More than 170 countries have signed up to the international trade agreement which aims to protect endangered species threatened with extinction, through controls on international trade in specimens of these species.
Crocodile leather for shoes, ivory and coral for jewellery, tiger bone and rhino horn for traditional Asian medicine and live animals for pets are among the popular items detected worldwide.
PA