On Friday, Big Life partner US Fish & Wildlife Service, and other government departments, crushed one ton of seized ivory in New York’s Times Square.

While destruction ceremonies, like this one, contribute to removing illegal ivory from the market, they don’t put an immediate end to commercial trade. Instead, burning or destroying ivory draws much needed attention to the ivory crisis, which results in the killing of one elephant every 15 minutes across Africa. 

The ivory crush does more than pulverize ivory to dust, thus putting it beyond economic use. It can also lead to tangible action from the public, government, and NGO’s that will help to ultimately crush the market for ivory.

The US crush, like the others before it, highlights that the ivory crisis isn't just an African problem, or a Chinese problem. It's a global problem. And it demands global collaboration and cooperation to save elephants.

#IVORYCRUSH #TimesSquare

Photo credit: Big Life Foundation (left), USFWS (right)