Jobs, used bikes, apartments, ivory trinkets. They’re all available on Craigslist, but only one comes from the gruesome slaughter of elephants.
But here’s the thing: Craigslist’s own policy prohibits the sale of animal parts, including ivory on its sites. And yet, right now, the sale of ivory is rampant on Craigslist. Do they know that all ivory comes from dead elephants?
Craigslist’s policy is humane and simply the right thing to do. But they need to follow through and enforce their own rules.
We just conducted a joint investigation with our friends at the International Fund for Animal Welfare and what we found was shocking. A sample of Craigslist sites in cities both large and small yielded hundreds of postings for ivory – valued at well over one million dollars! And this was only examining a small percentage of what is available on the 420 sub-sites that make up Craigslist.
We’ve sent multiple letters to Craigslist leadership drawing attention to this issue. They have taken a first step by explicitly adding ivory to their list of prohibited items.
It’s a start, but we need them to take it further and enforce the rules.
So now we’re turning to you, our elephant-lovers (and many Craigslist users!), to help turn up the heat.
To be clear, what Craigslist is doing isn’t illegal. Many of the listings say that the ivory is antique, imported to the U.S. before the bans in the 1970s and 1980s and in compliance with state and federal law. But they offer no documentation proving this authenticity, and it’s incredibly difficult to tell the difference between ivory that’s decades old and ivory that came from an elephant poached 6 months ago. Even experts can be duped.
That’s exactly why eliminating all ivory sales is necessary. If we’re going to save African forest elephants from extinction, we need to drive down demand for ivory. That means enacting bans on the federal and state levels and then securing the resources to enforce those bans. Persuading corporations to enact and enforce their own bans is another critical piece of the puzzle.
Craigslist is one of the most popular online classified companies in the world. Taking a stand for elephants would be a huge step forward on this issue and make it easier for other companies to follow in their footsteps.
Together, we can win this! We’ve helped enact bans in New York and New Jersey. We convinced PBS’s Antiques Roadshow to stop appraising ivory on-air. Here’s to the next big win.
Sincerely,
John F. Calvelli
Executive Vice President for Public Affairs
Wildlife Conservation Society
Director, 96 Elephants
Exposing the Big Game 
Our country does not come down hard enough on American companies involved in ethically questionable activities!!!!! Surely this must be a Federal crime under the Lacey Act, inter- or intra-state transport? Something?
https://www.animallaw.info/statute/ca-importation-chapter-2-other-and-miscellaneous-offenses-653o-653r#s653o