Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Humane Society International (HIS) have slammed Softbank Internet division who are partly owned Yahoo! Japan, to desist in promoting ivory and dolphin advertisements.
The African continent lost over 30,000 elephants last year that is termed as a disaster to eco tourism in the continent.
Around 80 percent of the Yahoo! Japan ivory ads are for hanko (name seals used to sign official documents), many of which are thought to derive from illicit ivory tusks smuggled into Japan from Africa.
SoftBank which also took over US cell phone carrier Sprint Nextel Corporation to a tune of USD 21.6 billion has been urged to stop the insensitive adverts on the Japan network.
“SoftBank has a responsibility to millions of US Sprint customers who will be shocked to discover that SoftBank is profiting from the slaughter of elephants, whales and dolphins,” said Allan Thornton, President of the Environmental Investigation Agency. “SoftBank must direct Yahoo! Japan to prohibit all such ads immediately to help protect Africa’s elephants and the world’s threatened whale and dolphin populations.”
“We are mindful of SoftBank’s current efforts to expand its reach internationally. As you expand, however, so too does your international constituency and your need to address broader social responsibility,” stated the letter.
“We hope that SoftBank Corp.’s direct contact with Yahoo! Japan will yield positive results when all the facts concerning endangered elephants and threatened whales and dolphins are presented and considered.”