The Republic of Tanzania and Zambia have submitted a controversial proposal to CITES, the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species, for a one time sell-off of over 80 tons of ivory. The 15th CITES conference will convene from March 13-25th in Doha, Qatar and these two countries will need 66% of the 175 country votes in order to proceed. Some other African countries support lifting the ban on sales, notably South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

The proposal by Tanzania and Zambia includes a de-listing of the African elephant from Appendix I to Appendix II (little to no trade control). This perhaps is the most threatening and alarming part of the proposal, and if approved could have wide-spread and devastating impacts for elephant herds across Africa.

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