Wendy Marston

In 1989 an international ban on the trading of ivory was put into place to protect African elephants. Some African nations, including Zimbabwe and Botswana, have since called for a full or partial relaxation of that prohibition. In the following viewpoint, Wendy Marston argues that the ivory trading ban has had unintended harmful consequences. As elephant populations have grown, they have in many places become dangerous pests that inflict extensive environmental and economic damage. She asserts that African nations, such as Zimbabwe, who bear the costs of maintaining healthy elephant populations should be allowed to treat them as a sustainable resource and permit the hunting of elephants and sale of their ivory. Marston, a contributing editor to Health magazine, writes about science and the environment.

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