eBay to Ban Ivory Sales

Elephants have a reason to rejoice. eBay, the online auction powerhouse, announced it would ban ivory commerce. The announcement coincides with the release of a report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare that documents how online auction sites have facilitated the sale of products derived from endangered species. According to the report, the majority of online auction sales of endangered species products were conducted on eBay. Most of the auctioned items were elephant products. 

Feeling pressure from international law enforcement agencies and conservation groups, eBay decided to enact the ban on ivory trade, which will go into effect January 1, 2009.  The ban may take some time to go into effect, especially considering endangered species products drew sales values of $457,000 during the six week period in which the International Fund for Animal Welfare conducted its research. 

Despite the report's dire outlook on products made from endangered species, it's encouraging that eBay would take the group's findings seriously and enact a solution. Many corperations aren't willing to make policies based on what's the right thing to do. 

Originally reported by the New York Times.