$8.5 Million in Ivory Crushed in NYC's Central Park

Environmental activists joined with New York state officials to crush more than one ton of ivory items in Central Park on Thursday, August 3, including ivory tusks, trinkets, statues, jewelry, and other decorative items.New York banned the sale of elephant and mammoth ivory and rhinoceros horns in 2014, and state authorities have brought action against 16 corporations and 31 people while seizing thousands of ivory pieces, valued at more than $10 million, according to a press release.The items crushed on Thursday represented 100 elephants’ worth of tusks, with a value of about $8.5 million, the release said. One item alone was worth $850,000, a news report said. Credit: Instagram/mickmicknyc via Storyful