Save the Animal from Human Greed

June 19 was a day to remember as 1,500 people gathered in New York City's Times Square to witness the destruction of 1 ton of confiscated ivory — a move intended to demonstrate to the world that objects made from poached ivory have no value.

Some wore it, some carried it, but the message was clear:  "Take a stand." Tables overflowed with carved tusks, delicate sculpted butterflies, and intricate Buddhist figures, offering people one last glimpse of what was soon to be pulverized. Supporters stood behind the ivory pieces, some waiting for more than two hours to watch the ivory be destroyed.
The crushing machine, which resembled a trash-collecting truck with a conveyor belt on one end and a nozzle at the other silently waited to do its job. Items were eventually loaded one-by-one onto the belt, and the trinkets were pulverized, with tiny
dime-size pieces and powdered ivory spilling into an enormous
collection bin.
According to Sally Jewell, the ivory crush will send a very clear message to the world that the ivory is not only crushed but the bloody ivory market is destroyed. From 2011 to 2014, the number of African elephants poached for their ivory tusks reached its highest level ever recorded, Jewell said. "In just a three-year span, an estimated 100,000 elephants were killed for their ivory. That's an average of 34,000 elephants per year killed in Africa,” she added.

Although the United States is one of the top recipients of smuggled ivory (second behind China), the country is also critical to stopping it, said Dan Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We're here because the United States is intimately connected to this slaughter," Ashe said at the event.
It is high time for people to desist from trade on endangered species to avoid their extinction. The greed must stop!