EBay, one of the largest online stores, has announced that starting from January they will enforce a policy banning the selling of products containing ivory. This decision was made upon the strong desire of saving the African and Asian elephants, which are on the endangered species list.

Poachers usually hunt down these animals for their ivory tusks, which cost a lot of money on the black market. Excessive hunting of elephants is the main reason why the animals are on the verge of extinction and though there are regulations meant to protect them, poachers still find a way to hunt them down.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare said that there were approximately 4, 000 ivory products listed on EBay; also, statistics show that most of the ivory sales on EBay come from the American site and that, once, a pair of elephant tusks were sold for the sum of $21,000.

EBay’s decision to ban the sale of such items should inspire other similar companies to do the same, as it is very hard to precisely analyze if the ivory in some objects were obtained legally or not. Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International applauded EBay’s new policy that will become official in December and will be enforced starting from January.

EBay said that there would be some exceptions to the rule, like the selling of antique items that contain a very small amount of ivory, like pianos made before 1900, for example. On the other hand, jewelry or chess pieces made out of ivory will not be permitted to be sold on the site, regardless of their age.