Talk to take control of the domestic ivory trade is fueling. President Obama announced on July 25th that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services is proposing new regulations that would prohibit most interstate commerce in African elephant ivory.

In response to a growing poaching crisis that is rapidly pushing populations of African elephants, rhinos and other species to the brink of extinction, President Obama announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is proposing new regulations that would prohibit most interstate commerce in African elephant ivory and further restrict commercial exports. This action, combined with others FWS has already taken, will result in a near total ban on the domestic commercial trade of African elephant ivory. The proposed rule builds upon restrictions put in place last year following President Obama’s Executive Order on combating wildlife trafficking.

The proposed rule follows U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell’s trip to China and Vietnam earlier this month to meet with senior government officials in both countries to build international cooperation to combat wildlife trafficking. In June, FWS held the second “Ivory Crush” in New York City’s Times Square, at which an industrial rock crusher destroyed more than one ton of confiscated ivory. In November 2013, FWS crushed six tons of seized ivory in Denver, inspiring nine other countries to follow suit with their own ivory stock destructions.

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