The Obama administration said on Monday it would destroy all 6m tons of its stocks of seized ivory in effort to stop illegal elephant poaching
The ivory destruction, announced at a White House event was part of a broader effort by the administration to elevate wildlife trafficking to urgent national security concern.
Destroying the ivory would signal that Obama was committed to stopping illegal trafficking in wildlife that has devastated species such as elephants and rhinos.

A zero-tolerance strategy was the only way to stop wildlife trafficking, Clinton said.
“You can’t be a little bit OK with buying ivory goods, because that opens the floodgates. Therefore we are doing everything we can to stop the trafficking, stop the demand and stop the killing,” Clinton said.

More here: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/09/us-ivory-stocks-illegal-elephant-poaching

In the picture, the elephants in Ruaha, Tanzania, protected also thanks to the efforts of PAMS and EAL.