Tanzania has withdrawn an application to sell to China and Japan more than 100 tons of ivory valued at over $55.5 million. The request submitted in early October was due to be discussed at the next Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in March in Bangkok. It already had drawn strong criticism from conservation groups and some so-called “elephant range” states. Tanzania said in the application that the ivory to be sold would exclude that which was seized from poachers and any whose origin is questionable.
Link: The Citizen