The company, which is no longer affiliated with Yahoo in the United States, said the decision came after consultations with Traffic, a group that monitors illegal wildlife trade, and its sister organization, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF). A Yahoo Japan spokesman said ivory had been sent to China and detected by customs authorities there.

AD

AD

“The company’s decision to ban all ivory from its platforms takes full consideration of the elevated risks in continuing such a practice,” Ryuji Tsutsui, chief executive of WWF Japan, said in a statement. “We welcome this critical step taken by Yahoo! Japan to align themselves with the global efforts to combat illegal wildlife trade online.”

Many of Yahoo Japan’s competitors already have such bans in place, with Rakauten and Mercari taking the step in 2017 and GMO Pepabo following suit this year.

After China banned the ivory trade at the end of 2017, Japan became the largest legal market for ivory, driven by demand for hankos: the personal seals that Japanese people use in place of signatures for anything from opening a bank account to signing an employment contract.

Many African elephant range states have joined wildlife groups in pleading with Japan and the European Union to close down their domestic ivory markets, arguing that they contribute to illegal cross-border ivory trading and, ultimately, to elephant poaching. But Japan’s government insists that all the ivory in the country was purchased when international trade was legal.

AD

AD

A Traffic study released in 2018 identified Yahoo Japan as the single-biggest online platform for elephant ivory sales in Japan, with 4,414 ivory items and 35 whole tusks worth more than $340,000 sold over a four-week period in June and July last year. Traffic said its research revealed a lack of effective regulation over online trade and evidence of illegal international trade.

The Environmental Investigation Agency also has documented persistent loopholes in Japan’s domestic ivory controls that facilitate illegal trade.

Wildlife groups say Japan’s poorly regulated market and lack of effective controls at its borders represent an easy target for ivory poachers to smuggle and launder tusks.

AD

Although China has tightened customs checks since banning the ivory trade, wildlife groups say poached ivory is still making its way there.

AD

“WWF hopes Yahoo! Japan’s proactive step will encourage the Japanese government to look critically at the country’s domestic market and its influence on international illegal trade,” Margaret Kinnaird, WWF wildlife practice leader, said in a statement.

“WWF’s consumer research reveals Chinese overseas travelers are persistent buyers of ivory even after the domestic ivory market was shut down in mainland China at the end of 2017.”

At a key meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in Geneva this month, countries agreed to examine whether domestic ivory markets are contributing to poaching or illegal trade but stopped short of calling for those markets to be immediately closed.

AD

Concerns in Japan have also been heightened by a boom in tourism from China and the approach of the Olympics in Tokyo next year.

AD

Iris Ho, senior wildlife specialist at Humane Society International, said she hoped Yahoo Japan’s decision will soon spell the end of Japan’s domestic ivory market.

“We now call on the government of Japan to swiftly move toward the complete closure of its domestic ivory market so that the millions of international tourists who will descend on Japan for the 2020 Olympic Summer Games can visit a Japan that is free of elephant ivory trade,” she said.