Carroll Calls for Illinois to Ban Ivory Imports

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. – Amidst the Trump Administration undercutting protections of the world’s endangered elephant population by easing the ban on ivory imports, state Rep. Jonathan Carroll, D-Buffalo Grove, is calling for a ban on ivory imports to Illinois.

“We have a choice – end ivory imports or witness the eradication of a magnificent animal,” Carroll said. “I refuse to allow poachers to profit from the demise of any endangered species.”

In November, Secretary of the Interior Zinke, announced that the administration would lift the ban on ivory imports for elephant trophy hunting – the practice of tourists hunting elephants in Africa and then bringing parts of the elephant back to the U.S. as a keepsake. Yet as the endangered African elephant population has declined by 30% between 2007 and 2014, according to the Great Elephant Census, many conservationists have argued that allowing trophy hunting only adds to the elephant population’s demise. The Carroll-backed Illinois Ivory Ban Act, HB 4843, responds to the Trump Administration’s policy by prohibiting and penalizing the import, sale or possession with intent to sell of any ivory product.

“We need to protect the environment, regardless of it’s in Arlington Heights or in Africa,” Carroll continued. “That’s why we need to act decisively to ban ivory imports before it’s too late.”