(Kendall Buhl/WBZ NewsRadio)
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The battle against ivory poaching was front-and-center Saturday at Franklin Park Zoo.
Zoo New England teamed up with the MSPCA and the Environment Police for the Toss the Tusk event where ivory was collected and visitors were educated about poaching products that make their way to the marketplace.
“People are surprised to learn that the ivory that’s for sale in Massachusetts may not be legal,” Zoo New England’s Cynthia Mead.
Mead said that poachers and traffickers who supply ivory have many ways of getting it to market in Massachusetts.
According to Zoo New England’s website, “the illegal ivory trade has more than doubled with the U.S. ivory market ranking among the top worldwide.”
“What we’re trying to do is raise awareness and stop the demand,” Mead said. “The only way we’re going to stop the killing is to make it financially unattractive to the poachers and to the traffickers.”
Zoo New England said that “wildlife trafficking is a global crisis” and could lead to the extinction of elephants.
WBZ NewsRadio's Kendall Buhl (@KBuhlWBZ) reports
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