Danish auction house halts ivory sale

Bruun Rasmussen pulls elephant tusks in wake of criticism

Nov 23, 2015

Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen has cancelled one of its forthcoming lots – a sale of African ivory that was due to take place this week – following a barrage of criticism.

A pair of tusks measuring almost two metres each belonging to an African elephant were due to go under the hammer at Bruun Rasmussen on November 25.

“We stopped all sales of rhino horn in 2012, and we are now following that up with a revision of our ethical guidelines in this area,” Jakob Dupont, the managing director of Bruun Rasmussen, said according to DR Nyheder.

“We want to avoid selling articles that can be considered offensive, so we continuously consider which subjects we want to sell at our auctions.”

Critical en-mass
The news comes in the wake of a flood of criticism regarding the auction of the two tusks, which weigh about 28 kilo each and were valued at about 150,000 kroner.

Despite the tusks being CITES-certified (an international agreement between governments that aims to ensure that the international trade of specimens and wild animals does not threaten their survival), the auction endured a wave of social media criticism regarding the prospective sale.

Similar criticism led to the auction house halting the sale of rhino horn in 2012.

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