HARARE: Zimbabwe's ivory stockpile has rocketed to 42,000 kilos up from a previous record of 29,000, but the country cannot sell it due to a ban, state media reported on Sunday.
"At the moment there is a nine-year moratorium on the international sale of ivory from Zimbabwe, it will end in 2016," Romana Nyahwa, acting director for Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife told the Sunday Mail newspaper.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) imposed the moratorium in an attempt to curb pouching.
"But it is not definite that after 2016 we will be able to sell our ivory," added Nyahwa.
She said the country would have to apply for a special permission from CITES to sell the tusks. It costs Zimbabwe $13 million annually to secure the stockpile.
"The proposal will be discussed and if it passes, permission will be granted for the sale to take place. The sale will be conducted under some agreed conditions, for example, selling to specific countries," she said.
Most of the tusks, valued at $10 million, were collected from conservation areas and rural districts countrywide.
In 2008, the southern African country sold 3.7 tonnes of ivory for $487,162 approved under an international agreement.
The auction was open only to buyers from China and Japan, who were required to only sell it within their countries.
According to official statistics, Zimbabwe has an elephant population of 100,000 but a large number fell prey to poachers during the country's economic crisis.
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