Destroying elephant ivory?

[Keith]

How far will people go to buy expensive elephant ivory? China is destroying them and that should increase the prices on it. But will people actually buy it at a more higher cost?

[Michael]

Unfortunately China is probably only making the problem worse because with the high price comes exclusivity, which makes real ivory a prestige item. Of course people will spend money on that. Its a kind of sick supply and demand, where the rarer elephants get, the MORE financially worthwhile it gets to hunt them. I think all that can be done about it is keep promoting awareness about the issue, you cannot force it. Fur coats fell out of fashion because of the cruelty involved, and the fact that you could get fake fur coats so real looking and feeling that they could only be told apart under a microscope. Social pressure, rather than trying to manipulate the market, is the way to go. Put wearing ivory in the same category as telling a racist joke, make it embarrassing, and people will simply stop doing it.