A5Mike

To ElainP: I agree that working with ivory brings up some troubling ethical issues. That being said, what many people are not aware of is that there are parts of Africa where elephants now have a huge overpopulation problem. Well meaning conservationists often will not allow hunting in these areas, and it is getting to the point where something must be done. In one conservation area alone there are over 11,000 elephants where experts say a truly sustainable population should be 4,000 animals, and the land is being destoyed due to the huge amount that each extra elephant eats. My only point is that, with proper management, we can have good populations of these beautiful animals and still have some ivory for these incredible works of art.