Question

In response to the increasing environmental damage wrought by poachers, authorities placed a

ban on ivory in the 1980s. Although the ban resulted in an initial decrease in the sale and trade

of illegal ivory and a concurrent increase in the elephant population, more pressing needs

caused most Western nations to withdraw funding for poaching prevention programs. Without

significant financial support, poorer countries were unable to effectively combat poachers. The

resulting explosion in the ivory trade has seen prices increase to nearly 10 times the $45 per

pound price at the beginning of the decade.

Unfortunately, the countries with the worst poaching problems have also tended to be the ones

least able to combat the problem due to unstable political systems, corruption, lack of

comprehensive enforcement programs, or some combination of all these factors. One primary

hindrance to better enforcement of the ivory ban came from an inability to definitively identify

the country of origin of illegal ivory. Countries used this uncertainty to avoid responsibility for

curbing illegal poaching in their territories by attempting to blame other countries for the

oversights in enforcement.

Now, though, zoologists have perfected a new DNA identification system. First, scientists

gathered genetic data from the population of African elephants, an arduous effort that

ultimately resulted in a detailed DNA-based map of the distribution of African elephants.

Then, the researchers developed a method to extract DNA evidence from ivory, allowing them

to match the ivory with elephant populations on the map. Zoologists hope this new method

will pinpoint the exact origin of poached ivory and force countries to accept their responsibility

in enforcing the ban.




Questions

1. The passage suggests which of the following about the ivory ban?


(a) It will be successful now that the DNA-based map has been developed.


(b) It has been mostly unsuccessful in reducing the trade of illegal ivory


(c) It will continue to be ineffective unless the problems of political corruption are solved.


(d) Western monetary support was a major factor in its success.​

Answer 1

Answer:

it has been mostly unsuccessful in reducing the trade of illegal ivory