Restrictions on the sale of ivory and its trade have been announced by President Obama. He was speaking in Kenya, when he announced that the new rules are intended to help stop the slaughter of African elephants.

The ban would lead to prohibition of all interstate sales of ivory, according to Discovery. As per reports, the only exclusions would be "pre-existing manufactured items", like pieces of furniture or musical instruments comprising small amounts of ivory.

According to Think Progress, a study published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" says that between 2010 and 2012, more than 100,000 elephants were killed for the ivory.

It has been reported that there is a period of 60 days for the public to give their views on the issue, before the new rule comes into effect.

According to The NY Times, the US is on second number in the market for ivory and animal products. According to Daniel Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "By tightening domestic controls on trade in elephant ivory, and allowing only very narrow exceptions, we will close existing avenues that are exploited by traffickers and address ivory trade that poses a threat to elephants in the wild."

In general, poached elephant ivory that reaches the United States is mixed with similar things that are legal such as mammoth, hippo or plastic ivory facsimiles. They are labeled as mammoth, Kenya-based ivory researcher Daniel Stiles wrote for the National Resources Defense Council environmental group in 2014.