United States-More than six tons of confiscated ivory including tusks, carvings and jewellery accumulated over the past 25 years and dumped into a steel crusher at the National Wildlife Property Repository north of Denver, have been crushed in the US.

Thousands of items were seized from smugglers, traders and tourists at US ports of entry since the 1989 international embargo on the ivory trade took effect.

According to report, Dan Ashe, director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, said

“Elephants continue to be shot for their prized tusks despite the global ban’’.

"These stockpiles of ivory fuel the demand "We need to crush the stores of ivory worldwide.''

Mr Ashe said keeping the stockpile could feed consumer demand for illegal souvenirs and trinkets.

Officials said the collection represented the killing of more than 2,000 adult elephants.

The illegal trade in ivory threatens the very existence of the African elephant, the largest land animal on Earth, experts have warned.

He said profits from wildlife trafficking were being pumped into other illicit activities such as narcotics, arms, and human trafficking.

Last year saw the highest number of large seizures of illegal ivory for more than two decades.