The Duke of Cambridge wants to remove and destroy 1,200 pieces of ivory form a Buckingham Palace collection.
The announcement comes just days after William, his father Prince Charles and brother Prince Harry, came out in a show of public support against elephant poaching.
Leading Primatologist Jane Goodall told reporters that Prince Will has personally expressed his wish to see “all the ivory owned by Buckingham Palace destroyed”, at the world’s largest media conference on illegal wildlife trade over the weekend.
The royals offered their support against elephant poaching at the Illegal Wildlife Trade conference organised by the United for Wildlife organization. In a speech, both Prince William and Prince Charles called on the world to turn it’s back on illegal traded animal parts such as ivory and rhino horn.
The royal collection that the Prince was referring to reportedly contains 1,200 artefacts dating back hundreds of years.
Reports have surfaced that Prince Will has already begun removing all ivory items from sight at his Clarence House and Highgrove homes, but a spokesman for the Duke of Wales refused to confirm or deny any private comments he may have made.
Although, that hasn’t stopped supporters from applauding the Duke’s stance on the illegal trade of ivory.
“It’s difficult to imagine a stronger symbol of the horrors of ivory than Buckingham Palace publicly destroying its own. Good for Prince William for pushing this,” British Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith said.
Conservationist, Dr Paula Kahumbu, also told reporters that such a move would send a powerful message: “It would be a demonstration of them putting their money where their mouth is. It would be extremely significant and visual, and might help Britons hand in their ivory, illegal or legal.”
Illegal trade of animal parts such as elephant tusks and rhino horns is worth more than an estimated 21 billion dollars per year.
46 nations and 11 international organisations were represented at the Illegal Wildlife trade conference, where they agreed to take the step necessary to protect endangered animals from the threat of poachers.
