On the Ivory in Bagpipes

In the wake of the public outcry recently about a US dentist killing a single male lion named Cecil in Africa, I thought about what such might have to do with bagpiping. Sport hunting has long been part of the human psyche, and tradition, and has little to do with the manufacture of highland bagpipes. Yet part of the story was the underlying theme of hunting endangered species. As an individual, as a people, and as a nation, we need to grapple with the implications of using the elephant, rhino, and other endangered species to produce sculptures, jewelry, and, bagpipes. Should it be allowed at the expense of endangering an animal population? Just because we can? I would say not.

In March of 2015, 15 tons of elephant ivory was destroyed (burned / pictured above) in Nairobi, Kenya. It had been confiscated from poachers. One article I read was that emerging markets for ivory has emboldened criminals to hunt and kill elephants for their tusks. Groups such as Save The Elephants (http://savetheelephants.org/) (SAE) are doing their part to raise awareness and helping fight poaching. Why burn the poached ivory? Maybe allowing it to be sold would feed a market, so better to starve that demand; remove the source from the end user. According to SAE, approximately 100,000 elephants and rhinoceros were killed in Africa between 2010 and 2012. In February of 2014, President Obama, announced a call for member states to place a permanent moratoria on all commercial imports, exports, and domestic sales and purchases of new ivory. This is welcome news and will help, but not eliminate, the killing and black market for ivory.

As an industry, some bagpipe makers have throughout the past used elephant ivory (among other exotic materials) for projection mounts on pipes. Up until 1976 when the US banned import of ivory, some pipe makers offered it as an option. It was a natural material that looked beautiful mounted on a set of pipes. In a news story from August, 2014, two US bagpipers had their pipes detained by US border security at the US / Canada border because their pipes had ivory. Luckily they got their pipes back in time to travel to the Worlds with their band. Since 1976 the plastics industry has developed imitation ivory which is special cast polyester with the characteristics of real ivory (color, density, texture). The imitation ivory can be turned by lathe into mounts. On the sets of pipes that I have seen, this product works very well and is beautiful.

So if I ran the circus, what would I do to minimize illegal trafficking of ivory?

First, I would advocate maintaining a complete international ban of new elephant and rhino ivory. One huge ‘elephant in the room’ is testing ivory’s age. The cost of testing the age makes easy identification of ivory, as old or new, a matter of the owner providing proof of the ivory’s age. And if suspected as new ivory then testing would be called for. If everyone was honest, the problem would go away, yet greed gets in the way when there remains a market for ivory. Stiff penalties should be levied and the sale of confiscated ivory would be directed to protect endangered species.

Second, I would advocate the free trade of legal ivory within countries. Private individuals may hold and to trade, however I would require all ivory to be registered with a national registry. Ivory held outside of these requirements would be subject to confiscation. I can see obvious challenges to this .

Third, I would advocate that the penalties for poaching or engaging in any form of illegal trade in ivory (or in any endangered species) be very severe. Any monetary consequences would flow to programs protecting the elephants and their environment. There must be a component on education as well.

With 7.3 billion people now populating Earth, there will be people wishing for and able to afford exotic material, even though endangered species. Do we allow the use of endangered animal parts? If not elephant or rhino, what about buffalo, or walrus or Hippo or killer whale? To paraphrase former First Lady Nancy Reagan, “Just say no.”

Photo credit: KHALIL SENOSI / AP