The ban has been hailed as 'one of the world’s toughest'

Roughly 55 African elephants are reportedly killed each day for their ivory

A highly

anticipated UK ivory ban was confirmed Tuesday by Britain's Environment

Secretary.

Ban

Described

as 'one of the world’s toughest', the ban was introduced to protect elephants,

and reduce illegal trade.

The ban

will cover almost all items, with very few exemptions, and violators will face

up to five years in prison.

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Items

exempt from the ban include antiques containing less 10 percent ivory, certain

old instruments, and few other ultra-rare antiques and artifacts.

Britain's Environment Secretary described the ivory trade as 'abhorrent'

Public

support

Of more

than 70,000 UK respondents, 88 percent were reportedly in favor of banning the

ivory trade which, according to the WWF, leads to the death of roughly 55 African

elephants each day.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: "The ban will demonstrate our belief that the abhorrent ivory trade should

become a thing of the past."

'Global

leader'

WWF Chief

Executive Tanya Steele said: "This ban makes the UK a global leader in tackling

this bloody trade, and it’s something WWF has been fighting hard for."

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Activists

hope the strict ban will inspire other countries to follow suit - with John Stephenson,

CEO of Stop Ivory, explaining that 'when the buying stops, the killing will

stop'.

Steele

said: "We hope the UK will continue to press countries where the biggest

ivory markets are, most of which are in Asia, to shut down their trade

too."