Save Elephants

Destroy ivory to prevent poachers from making profits and save elephants

Destroying illegally obtained ivory is a clear message to poaching criminals: The United States will crack down on and punish them, and will absolutely not let the killing of these precious animals be profitable.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service's " Ivory Crush " project is also dedicated to raising public awareness of illegal wildlife trade and reducing the demand for illegal ivory.

In the United States, ivory and other wild items that were intercepted were kept as evidence until the relevant criminal and civil cases ended. After the case was closed, a few items were left for educational and training needs, and the rest of the intercepted items were all destroyed-to ensure that such killing activities were not profitable. 

Some ivory was intercepted when it was smuggled into the United States; some was found when it was shipped from the local area or in illegal transnational transactions. Some items were intercepted because they did not have relevant permits based on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora when they entered the United States, or because they returned from overseas travel The person carrying the item does not know (or fails to comply) with wildlife laws and regulations.

In November 2013, the United States destroyed 6 tons of intercepted ivory. Since then, many countries, including the Philippines, Kenya, France and China, have also destroyed their stocks of intercepted items. Every ton of ivory means that about 330 elephants have died. The illegal ivory trade has resulted in the killing of more than 30,000 elephants each year .

You can help eliminate illegal wildlife trade by refusing to buy ivory or ivory products .