This Briefing looks at the need for ETIS, its development and the role it plays in building the knowledge base for understanding the global trade in elephant products.
Elephant conservation is a complex and difficult undertaking.
Ranging across some 37 countries on the Africa continent, and another 13 countries in Asia, elephants mean many things to many different people. It can be a Noble God or a life-threatening menace, a tourist attraction or crop raider, an endangered species or a sustainable resource. Striking the balance between these often differing perceptions, from those who live alongside elephants to those who live a world apart, presents many challenges. The challenge is all the more difficult when faced with uncertainty about many fundamental issues relating to the status of the world's two elephant species. While trade in elephant products, particularly ivory, is just one of many threats to the long-term survival of the species, it is the threat that provokes the most contentious global debate.