Ivory Trade To Be Banned In UK 'To Protect Elephants'

Elephants are pretty incredible beings! Not unlike ourselves, they often live to be 70 years old, they genuinely mourn the deaths of their loved ones, and they have a huge capacity for feeling emotions. They also use their feet to listen, picking up on vibrations in the ground, and can hold memories, with brains three to four times larger than an adult human’s.

These animals are absolutely incredible, yet we endanger them each and every day. Thanks to the ivory trade, the global elephant population has fallen drastically over the past century. In Africa, the elephant population decreased from 5 million in the 1930s to only 690,000 in the 1980s.

The sale and export of almost all ivory items would be banned in the UK under plans set out by the government.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove has announced a consultation to end the trade in ivory of all ages - previous attempts at a ban would have excluded antique ivory produced before 1947.

The government says there will be some exemptions, for musical instruments and items of cultural importance.

Conservation groups have given a guarded welcome to the plan.