Commercial handing and selling of ivory in China will cease by April 1
According the BBC, “China has the biggest ivory market in the world – some estimates suggest 70% of the world’s trade ends up there.”
The agreement to support the latest CITES resolution in an effort to stem the extinction of elephants came as a shock back in October, but Chinese delegates claimed Beijing wanted
Conservation group WWF welcomed the latest news, calling it a “historic announcement… signalling an end to the world’s primary legal ivory market and a major boost to international efforts to tackle the elephant poaching crisis in Africa”.
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Such great news for these beautiful animals, but unfortunately poaching will still continue, with the black market driving prices even higher.
Well, the vast majority of the poached ivory goes to legal (in China) trade paths. Without the Chinese government they elephants are absolutely doomed. While long overdue this is as good as news can get regarding the issue.