Philippines Cancels Planned Burn of Confiscated Elephant Tusks after Clean-Air Groups Object

This Philippine government this weekend cancelled plans to burn $10 million worth of seized elephant tusks after several clean-air groups cried foul.The Philippines isn't the only country trying to destroy its ivory stockpiles. Gabon conducted a massive ivory burn last year--an act that their government said sent a message to poachers in that country that wildlife crime would no longer be tolerated. The Philippines burn had similar goals. "Our decision to destroy these ivory tusks that entered the country illegally is to show to the whole world that the Philippines will not tolerate illegal wildlife trade," said Ramon Page, secretary of the country's Department of Environment and Natural Resources, in a media statement last week. A National Geographic investigation last year revealed that millions of dollars' worth of illegal ivory flows into the Philippines every year, mainly for use in religious icons. [More]