Peter J. Li is an Associate Professor at the University of Houston-Downtown. His research focuses on China’s animal welfare policies and the country’s animal protection movement at a time of rapid social transformation. Li has published articles on China’s wildlife law enforcement, culture, and human-animal relations, factory farming, and animal welfare, wildlife farming, and cruelty, among other topics. He also writes for Hong Kong and Beijing’s English-language newspapers on current events. In commentaries published in 2015, Li called on the Chinese authorities to outlaw domestic ivory sales, to re-invent a wildlife protection law for safeguarding the common interest of humanity, and to start anti-cruelty legislation. Li is a consultant for Humane Society International on issues and collaborative programs with China.

Last Updated: January 9, 2017

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01.10.17

Can Beijing’s Ivory Ban Save the Elephants?

Eric Olander, Peter J. Li & more
On New Year’s Eve, Beijing announced it will ban the ivory trade in China, potentially shutting down the world’s biggest ivory market. Why did Beijing decide to curb the ivory trade? Will it put enough muscle behind it to enforce the decision? What...