Though selling African elephant ivory has generally been banned since 1989, poaching is once again rampant.

WSJ: A Trumpet in the Wild

The issue of trade in elephant ivory is once again on the agenda.

NPR: Lifting the Ivory Ban Called Premature

"Most illegal shipments of African elephant ivory end up in either China or Thailand, " according to TRAFFIC, an organization that monitors the wildlife trade.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Legalizing the trade in ivory and other elephant products would provide additional resources.

FORBES: When You Ban The Sale Of Ivory, You Ban Elephants

The Kenyan government banned trade in ivory in 1989, and levels of elephant poaching subsequently declined, but there has been a rise in the illegal practice in recent years.

BBC: Kenya hunts ivory poachers after elephant family killed

After the international trade in ivory was banned in 1989, global demand dwindled and elephant populations began to recover.

BBC: Kenya seizes smuggled ivory in Mombasa port

Much of the attention on elephant poaching has been in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo but with demand for ivory growing and prices rocketing in recent years, poachers have sought out the forest elephants in the vast expanses of Minkebe.

BBC: Poaching boom sees thousands of elephants killed in Gabon