Survey of the ivory items for retail sale in Addis Ababa in 2008

In a survey of ivory items for retail sale conducted in June 1999 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, almost 10,000 ivory objects were found, the fourth largest in Africa after Abidjan, Harare and Cairo. In 2004 TRAFFIC and the CITES Secretariat gave encouragement and technical help to the Government of Ethiopia to solve this problem; in 2005 the government cracked down on this illicit trade by confiscating illegal ivory items and arresting all of the shop owners found with illegal ivory. A survey conducted soon afterwards counted only 78 ivory items in the shops and stalls.