Winner
Brent Stirton
Getty Images
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"GOD'S IVORY"
SURIN, THAILAND, 9 NOVEMBER 2011: A monk walks through an elephant graveyard in Surin Elephant Village in Surin, Thailand. The chief Abbot of a popular local temple buys his Ivory carvings of Buddhist icons for resale purposes to his thousands of followers in this village. He commented openly on the presence in Thailand of illegally imported African ivory and advised on how to get it into Thailand past customs authorities. He spoke enthusiastically of business opportunities if this photographer could get him illegal African ivory, despite his public relations campaign as a carer of elephant in Thailand. The Thai legal system has many loopholes as a result of the legal domestic ivory trade and Thailand is suspected of being a major transit country for illegal African ivory as a result. The sale of religious ivory icons and amulets is a big part of the domestic trade while illegal ivory and elephant goods from Africa regularly make their way to China via Thailand.
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