The World - News from Oct. 9, 1989

Wildlife specialists from more than 100 countries began meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, focusing on an effort to keep Africa’s fast-dwindling elephant population from disappearing forever. Delegates of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, known as CITES, must find common ground between the East Africa demand for an ivory ban, supported by the United States and Western Europe, and the position that controlled marketing of tusks can finance anti-poaching measures. CITES rulings are non-binding and rely on international pressure for enforcement.