U.S. to Destroy 6-Ton Stockpile of Illegal Ivory Seized Over the Past 25 Years [VIDEO]

With an aim to combat elephant poaching, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will destroy nearly six tons of elephant ivory on November 14, 2013. The crush will send a message to traffickers that the United States won't tolerate illegal ivory trade.

In a latest announcement, the U.S. fish and Wildlife Service said that it will destroy nearly 6 tons of illegal ivory which have been seized over the past 25 years by law enforcement officers in connection with violation of U.S. wildlife laws and treaties.

"We're sending a message to ivory traffickers and their customers that the United States will not tolerate this illegal trade. We're standing with nations that have already destroyed their illegal ivory and showing our commitment to working with partners around the world to stop this trafficking and save elephants," the U.S. fish and Wildlife Service website stated.

The stockpile has items ranging from whole tusks to small trinkets. the destruction take place at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in Commerce City, Colo, source NBC News.

Ivory trafficking is it at its peak now. The wildlife officials have taken this step to protect elephant and other species like rhino from the illegal wildlife trafficking. The crush will send a message to traffickers that the United States will take strict measure to prosecute and disrupt those who kill and profit by slaughtering animals.

The ivory crush was supposed to take place in month of the October, but due to the federal government shutdown, this event was postponed.

Currently there are just 100,000 elephants existing in the wild in central Africa. This number is extremely low to the one million of them who roamed the across same habitat 30 years ago. Studies done earlier have stated that two thirds of African elephants are killed in a decade for ivory trade.