Yesterday when I took Sophie’s violin bow to be re-haired at
Ifshin Violins in El Cerrito, on the counter, I noticed a one-page article with
the headline, “Budapest Orchestra Has Bows Seized Over Ivory Concerns.”
Early this summer, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service inspectors at
Kennedy airport confiscated seven of the musicians' bows even though the Budapest
Orchestra believed that the bows did not contain the forbidden ivory.
In
the past ten years, alarming numbers of savannah and forest elephants (up to
30,000 per year) are being slaughtered to supply the global ivory trade. In an
attempt to protect African elephants, the Obama administration has enacted regulations
that place a
near-total ban on anything made with ivory moving in and out of the U.S.
The executive director of the Budapest Orchestra said that
they had gotten documentation for each bow from bow makers, stating that the
bows did not contain banned ivory; however, the inspectors disagreed, and since
the Orchestra did not have a special ivory import permit, the government
officials refused entry for the bows and issued a $525 fine.
“Does this bow have
ivory on it?” I asked the Ifshin Violins guy.
He looked at the small fingernail size white piece that protects the head of the violin and supports
the plug that holds the horsehair into the stick. “I don’t think so, “ he told
me. “It’s probably a synthetic material,
not elephant ivory, but the problem is it’s very hard to tell for sure.”
Following
an international ban on ivory in the early 70’s, instrument makers started
using plastic, mammoth ivory, fossil ivory, or even bone. However older,
antique bows do contain elephant ivory, as do piano keys, and inlays on old guitars and
mandolins.
If
you can prove that ivory in your instrument was legally acquired before 1976,
for $75 you can obtain a travel permit in about 45 days through the USFWS.
The League of
American Orchestras and the American Federation of Musicians are lobbying for
more flexible rules to address traveling musicians entering the U.S. with
instruments containing small amounts of African elephant ivory, or not, since
determining what’s really elephant ivory is not a slam dunk. The permit process
and complicated enforcement procedures need to be revamped.
Who
would have imagined that addressing wildlife conservation goals and protecting international musical
activity would be discordant? Every time I hear about another
elephant being poached for ivory, I shudder.
While it makes sense to completely STOP buying any products that contain
ivory of any kind, I’m not convinced that harassing musicians is a good
solution.
How about
having these professional musicians who own instruments with ivory in them, perform
at concerts benefitting an organization like Roots&Shoots, founded by Jane Goodall and students in Tanzania “to make
positive change.” There are a number of
other good organizations out there that would welcome donations including:
When I pick up Sophie’s bow, and pay for it, I plan to
donate the same amount to one of these groups.
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