U.S. Ivory Crush Should Be Just a First Step
by Bryan Christy

“This Thursday, the United States government will destroy nearly six tons of ivory, which represents a good portion of the ivory the U.S. has seized since the late 1980s, when anational ban on commercial African ivory imports went into effect.

It will be a symbolic act. But symbolism matters.

Ivory destruction ceremonies have been a litmus test for where a country stands on the ivory trade ever since Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi torched 13 tons of ivory in 1989, setting the stage for a vote to ban international trade in ivory by parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

That ban went into effect in 1990. Six months later, the U.S. ivory market collapsed”.

The full article here:http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131112-ivory-trafficking-crush-united-states/#close-modal

Photograph by Joe Amon, The Denver Post/Getty Images