P.M. BRIEFING : Ivory Ban Held Saving Elephants
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BRUSSELS — An international ban on ivory trading is proving effective in the struggle to save Africa’s endangered elephants, a World Wide Fund for Nature official said today.
The ban, agreed to by the United Nations Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species last October, has quashed the demand for ivory and forced prices down, fund spokesman Rick Weyerhaeuser said.
“The price of ivory has fallen (about) 50% since the ban was announced,” he said. “First indications are that (the ban) is proving successful.”
But he said the group fears the refusal of some southern African countries to accept the ban might jeopardize efforts to protect the continent’s dwindling elephant population.
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