Africa' s conservation efforts are set for a major boost. By the end of business hours today, almost half of China's authorized, government-approved ivory factories and shops will have closed their doors for good. The rest of China's legal trade will be gone by the end of the year - a total of 34 factories and 138 shops. The shutdown follows a resolution at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in South Africa last October. According to a new report released in Nairobi this week, the historic ban on processing and sale of ivory products announced by China could herald demise of elephant poaching in Africa. The report by save the elephant says that already the price of elephant tusks dropped by two thirds in the last three years. It attributed the fall to negligible demand in affluent societies in the Far-East.

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