Thought Craigslist was a harmless forum for posting local classifieds? Think again.

A report published this spring by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reported finding that $1.5 million worth of ivory was available for sale on Craigslist at one time, with an estimate of $15 million annually. So, is Craigslist now contributing to the potential extinction of elephants? Sadly, yes.

It is illegal to buy or sell ivory that has recently been imported into the United States. Craigslist can have no doubt that the sale of the vast majority of all ivory being sold on its site is prohibited by this law. It has been estimated that upwards of 90 percent of the ivory sales in Los Angeles and San Francisco are actually illegal.

In a news piece covering the story, Vice.com has quoted one of the world’s largest online petition site Avaaz’s senior campaigner Joseph Huff-Hannon as saying: “Craigslist bans ivory on their site, but without enforcement it’s an empty gesture—the company can do much more to monitor sales, and report illegal ivory sales to authorities.”

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