The first legal sale of elephant ivory for nine years is underway in Africa, in a move that has split conservation groups.
The international trade in ivory was banned in 1989, to stop elephants being killed for their tusks. At the rate they were disappearing from Africa in the late 80s and early 90s, conservationists thought they could be extinct by 2025.
However, since the ban the population has bounced back in some southern African countries.
Last year, endangered species group CITES approved a one-off auction of stockpiled ivory in four southern African countries.
The ivory mainly comes from animals that have died naturally, and all the money raised is to go to elephant conservation and community projects for local people.
The only two approved buyers for the auction are China and Japan, and CITES has said that there can be no further auctions for another ten years.
The sale and its effects are being 'monitored closely' by conservation groups WWF and Traffic. They point to figures suggesting that seizures of illegal ivory continued to drop after the last one-off sale in 1999, and say that conservationists should focus their attention on other areas of Africa where elephant populations are under greater threat.
However, others believe that the sales could revive illegal markets in ivory.
"We are deeply concerned that these sales will open the floodgates to additional illegal trade," said Will Travers of the Born Free Foundation.
"For some inexplicable reason some people think that all elephant populations are adequately protected and thriving. Nothing could be further from the truth," he added.
As part of its commitment to the welfare of elephants in the wild, elephant.co.uk supports the work of TUSK and the Born Free Foundation.
