I ’ll say it : I love Antiques Roadshow . The spirit on the faces of folks who find out on national TV that their invaluable old geezer are really worthless hunks of junk is , well , invaluable . There ’s just one problem : by appraising bone the PBS show communicates the idea that elephants are worth more dead than alert .
To raise awareness about the cost of the ivory trade to elephants and other wildlife , the Wildlife Conservation Society create the parody video above to illustrate the true cost of ivory . Thanks to the public ’s reply to their outreach , which is part of WCS’s96 Elephants Campaign , Antiques Roadshow has removed two items made of ivory from their internet site .
From an prescribed statement cut by the WCS :
On April 30th , WCS ’s 96 Elephants campaign launched an opening ask the populace to connect with the PBS platform Antiques Roadshow ask them to stop on - air appraisal of off-white . We believe that the assessment post the haywire content to the populace and are serve perpetuate a black market that is wiping out elephants at an unprecedented rate .
The initiative include a fictional appraisal on YouTube that brought to light the many minus outlet surrounding the ivory craft including the sweeping slaughter of elephants , murdering of park precaution , organize crime , terrorism , and human right abuses . We have since larn that Antiques Roadshow has removed two salient ivory estimate from their website – one show an estimate of a carved elephant tusk from Belgian Congo ; the other showing a carved ivory from Burma .
The public answer to the campaign has been very strong with more than 34,000 actions take so far , include more than 29,000 emails sent to WGBH , the show ’s manufacturer ; along with more than 2,400 Tweets and re - Tweets on the issue … and 2,100 shares on Facebook .
Both species of African elephants are classified as vulnerable by the IUCN , but the smaller African forest elephants are in an especially precarious position . If the demand for tusk does n’t diminish and its consequent poaching is n’t eradicated , extinction in the wilderness may well be around the corner .
By including appraisals of items made from ivory in their show and internet site , Antiques Roadshow communicate to the populace that elephants are deserving more dead than awake . That ’s the faulty message .
you may sign the petition that WCS has created to broadcast to Antiques Roadshow , here .
Animalsconservation
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