Editing Ivory (section)

===Controversy and conservation issues===
The use and [[ivory trade|trade of elephant ivory]] have become controversial because they have contributed to seriously declining elephant populations in many countries. It is estimated that consumption in Great Britain alone in 1831 amounted to the deaths of nearly 4,000 elephants.  In 1975, the [[Asian elephant]] was placed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ([[CITES]]), which prevents international trade between member states of species that are threatened by trade. The [[African elephant]] was placed on Appendix I in January 1990. Since then, some southern African countries have had their populations of elephants "downlisted" to Appendix II, allowing the domestic trade of non-ivory items; there have also been two "one off" sales of ivory stockpiles.<ref name="To Save">"To Save An Elephant" by Allan Thornton & [[Dave Currey (environmentalist)|Dave Currey]], Doubleday 1991 {{ISBN|0-385-40111-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cites.org/gallery/species/mammal/asianelephant.html|title=Asian Elephant|publisher=Cites.org|access-date=2017-11-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/26/AR2007022600932.html|title=Increased Demand for Ivory Threatens Elephant Survival|newspaper=Washington Post|date=2007-02-27|access-date=2017-11-03|first=Marc|last=Kaufman}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3879214|title=Lifting the Ivory Ban Called Premature |publisher=NPR |date=2002-10-31|access-date=2013-06-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/globalmarkets/wildlifetrade/faqs-elephant.html|title=WWF Wildlife Trade – elephant ivory FAQs|publisher=World Wildlife Fund|access-date=2017-11-03}}</ref>

In June 2015, more than a ton of [[confiscation|confiscated]] ivory was [[destruction of ivory|crushed]] in [[New York City]]'s [[Times Square]] by the Wildlife Conservation Society to send a message that the [[illegal trade]] will not be tolerated. The ivory, confiscated in New York and [[Philadelphia]], was sent up a conveyor belt into a rock crusher. The Wildlife Conservation Society has pointed out that the global ivory trade leads to the slaughter of up to 35,000 elephants a year in Africa. In June 2018, Conservative MEPs' Deputy Leader Jacqueline Foster MEP urged the EU to follow the UK's lead and introduce a tougher ivory ban across Europe.<ref>{{cite news |author=Foster |first1=Jacqueline |last2=McClarkin |first2=Emma |last3=Flack |first3=John |date=18 July 2018 |title=Foster, McClarkin, Flack: "4 things we've done to improve animal welfare" |url=http://conservativeeurope.com/news/4-things-we-ve-done-to-improve-animal-welfare |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802132008/http://conservativeeurope.com/news/4-things-we-ve-done-to-improve-animal-welfare |archive-date=2 August 2018 |access-date=2 August 2018 |work=Conservatives in the European Parliament}}</ref>

China was the biggest market for poached ivory but announced they would phase out the legal domestic manufacture and sale of ivory products in May 2015. In September of the same year, China and the U.S. announced they would "enact a nearly complete ban on the import and export of ivory."<ref>{{cite news|author=Ryan, F.|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/26/china-and-us-agree-on-ivory-ban-in-bid-to-end-illegal-trade-globally|title=China and US agree on ivory ban in bid to end illegal trade globally|date=26 September 2015|access-date=2 November 2017|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> The Chinese market has a high degree of influence on the elephant population.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/09/elephants-on-the-path-to-extinction-the-facts-chinese-language|title=事实上，大象已经濒临灭绝|trans-title=Elephants on the Path of Extinction: The facts|website=[[The Guardian]]|language=zh|date=8 September 2016|access-date=3 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/09/why-the-guardian-is-publishing-its-elephant-reporting-in-Chinese|author=Isabel Hilton|title=Why the Guardian is publishing its elephant reporting in Chinese|website=The Guardian|date=9 September 2016|access-date=3 November 2017}}</ref>