In 1989 an international ban on selling ivory came into force because illegal poaching had reduced the number of elephants in Africa by half. To enforce the ban the United Nations established the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). After the ban went into effect it did help stem the losses of these great creatures. Elephant populations in certain African countries grew at such rapid rates they caused the development of a major problem: the elephants were encroaching on human habitats and destroying crops and food sources for humans as well as other animal species.

Though the elephant herds had increased in parts of Africa, in central African nations the pachyderm populations were still critically endangered because poaching remained rampant. Illegal hunters killed thousands of elephants each year and sold their ivory tusks on the black market.

In 1999, CITES approved the sale of 50 tons of ivory stocks to Japan. Last year, CITES permitted a second series of auctions and China was added to the list of nations allowed to purchase the ivory. Numerous groups protested these sales vehemently believing that even legal sales of ivory would encourage poachers to increase their illegal kills because their was still a large consumer demand for ivory products.

The Environmental Investigation Agency has spent its efforts on exposing poachers and smugglers but still believe that both activities are on the rise. Despite the many seizures of illegal ivories, poachers and smugglers continued destroying these beautiful animals. In Chad alone more than 700 elephants are slaughtered each year for their valuable tusks and conservationists claim the vast majority of the world’s smuggled ivory ends up in China.

Supporters of these legal auctions assert that ivory sold at auction is from elephants that have either died naturally or were culled and the money made from the sales will be used to maintain the regulation of conservation laws. If the legally permissible auctions are watched carefully they might help curtail the flow of black market ivory.

Opponents of these auctions maintain that any sale of ivory increases consumer demand and will eventually lead to increased poaching. Although elephant populations are stable in southern Africa, they acknowledge, they are endangered elsewhere.