New York crushes two tons of ivory to smash illegal trade

The Wildlife Conservation Society crushed more than two tons of elephant ivory in Central Park on Thursday to encourage the end of the illegal ivory trade that conservationists say kills a hundred elephants a day in Africa and other parts of the world.

"Today we are not only crushing the haul of massive material you see here, we're also crushing the entire supply chain that continues to bring this illegal ivory into the United States," the organization's executive vice president of public affairs, John Calvelli, said. "If you are thinking of profiting from the sale of elephant ivory in New York, think again, because our state is closed for business."

Calvelli said there are ivory bans in New York, New Jersey, California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and Nevada.