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The diminishing number of elephants, to a large extent the result of wholesale slaughter for tusks, and the resulting increased cost of ivory have encouraged the making of imitations and the use of natural substitutes. One strategy for controlling the slaughter of elephants for their ivory is to permit a regulated trade that would reduce poaching and provide profit to Africans, but not deplete the elephant population. Most recently, however, a complete ban on ivory trade has been enacted by countries that supply and consume ivory. A new method of determining the origin of a tusk by using DNA or radio isotopes will help zoologists to fight poaching.
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