"U.S. Will Destroy Ivory Stockpile To Fight Wildlife Trafficking"

"The United States will destroy its six-ton stockpile of elephant ivory as a way to combat wildlife trafficking, an international fight that often has law enforcement outgunned by well-financed crime syndicates, White House panelists said on Monday."

"The ivory - raw and carved whole tusks and smaller items seized by or abandoned to U.S. agents over the last 25 years - will be crushed as part of a push to publicize the illegal trade that threatens wild elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, great apes and other iconic species, said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

'This was shocking to me: wildlife trafficking has doubled since 2007, and it's now estimated to be the fourth largest transnational crime in the world,' Jewell told a White House forum."

Deborah Zabarenko reports for Reuters September 10, 2013.

SEE ALSO:

"U.S. to Crush Six Tons of Contraband Elephant Ivory" (ENS)