Thousands of items accumulated over the past 25 years were dumped into a steel crusher at the National Wildlife Property Repository north of Denver, USA. The items were seized from smugglers, traders and tourists at US ports of entry since the 1989 international embargo on the ivory trade took effect. Mr Ashe said keeping the stockpile could feed consumer demand for illegal souvenirs and trinkets. Officials said the collection represented the killing of more than 2,000 adult elephants. He said profits from wildlife trafficking were being pumped into other illicit activities such as narcotics, arms, and human trafficking.

The article discusses the actions of the US government in relation to matters of ivory trade. All the rare, valuable and expensive items were crushed in order to reduce the demand for the market of such items. Is the objective behind these actions justifiable? Is this the best solution?