Today is a big day. No, it's a huge day. From what we understand 67 Chinese ivory trading outlets (including some factories) will be permanently closing their doors by the end of it.

At the start of the year the conservation world celebrated China's commitment to shut it's domestic ivory market by the end of 2017, and this is another concrete step toward that.

This and other global efforts to eradicate ivory poaching are already bearing fruit, as evidenced by a recent investigation by our partners Save the Elephants that found that ivory prices had fallen almost two thirds in the last three years, with the average wholesale price of ivory dropping from $2,100/kg in early 2014 to $730/kg now. This changes the economics significantly, and we hope it is only a sign of things to come.

Thank you China, and thank-you to everyone else who has worked so hard for elephants.