Winner
Brent Stirton
Getty Images
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"GOD'S IVORY"
AMPHUR NADOON, MAHASARAKHAN PROVINCE, THAILAND, 8 November 2011: Scenes from Wat suan paa Phutthasatharn Supraditme Thee temple complex, a site where elephants are being raised in controversial circumstance by Mahouts and the chief monk Luang Poo Kru Ba Dhammamunee, Amphur Nadoon, Mahasarkhan Province, Thailand. The chief monk Dhammamunee was recently accused by Thai elephant conservation groups and national media of slowly poisoning an elephant so that he could take its ivory for use in religious amulets. The monk, who has a large following, denies this and there is currently a lawsuit in the Thai courts regarding both the welfare of the elephant and defamation charges. Most Thai people manifest their faith in amulets and for the wealthy Ivory is often used in religious artifacts and amulets in Thailand. A high percentage of the illegal trade in ivory is for this purpose. Thai law also allows for a number of legal loopholes which have been exploited by Ivory traffickers, both for domestic ivory and also for illegally trafficked African ivory. Thailand is rated third by Interpol as a global transit country for illegal ivory moving to China.
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