Did you know? Some of those souvenirs are illegal.
"A flagrant breach of international conservation law," is how Esmond Bradley Martin, a leading analyst of the trade in ivory and rhinoceros horn, describes the flourishing market in ivory that awaits tourists visiting Egypt. A survey conducted in 2000 for three conservation groups documented more than 21,000 pieces of ivory—much of it in the form of small decorative ornaments—openly sold in shops in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. A similar trade is carried out throughout much of Asia and Africa, despite the ban on the international trade in ivory established by the Convention on the International Trade In Republic of the Congo, for example).
In Australia, Federal Environment Minister Robert Hill warned tourists heading off to Asia not to return with souvenir monkey skulls, which will only be seized by the Australian Custom Service. The skulls come from members of species in danger of extinction, such as the crab-eating macaque and the pig-tailed macaque, who are killed in the wild, further depleting the species and often degrading delicate ecosystems in the process.
Tourists should be aware that bringing ivory, monkey skulls, and many other products such as tortoise shell, reptile skins, and leathers into the United States and many other nations is illegal and may result in the items' seizure and a substantial fine. "Some souvenirs you buy overseas could end up costing a lot more than you paid for them," Endangered Species (CITES) more than a decade ago. The purchase of ivory products encourages the poaching of African elephants (in the 1990s, poaching more than halved the elephant population in the Democratic warns the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which distributes a flyer entitled "Buyer Beware!" (for a copy, call 1-800-344-WILD).
Making your travel animal-friendly is as easy as being alert not to purchase souvenirs made from animals or from natural products such as shell or rare woods, whose harvesting may have resulted in destruction of crucial habitat. Your travel dollars speak volumes. Please spend them wisely.
