Legalization of Ivory Trade: Good or Bad for elephant conservation

Legalization of Ivory Trade: Good or Bad for elephant conservation?  An article in Science Magazine by Virginia Morelli discusses the long-running debate over whether allowing legal consumption of ivory will support or harm elephant conservation.  The argument in favor of legal sales and consumption is that “producers” of elephants and ivory will have an incentive to preserve habitat and conserve elephants while if sales are made illegal, then they will have no incentives to protect elephants or their habitat.  The abstract of the Morelli article is available at http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/09/legalizing-ivory-trade-wont-save-elephants-study-concludes
An article in Current Biology by David Lusseau tested hypotheses concerning the sales of ivory and concluded that the slow reproductive cycle of elephants would not support legal ivory trade. Rather, they argue the focus should be on reducing consumer demand. The Lusseau article abstract is available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.08.060
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