HAVE I GOT A TUSK FOR YOU!

By MICHAEL D. LEMONICK

Hundreds of thousands of African elephants were slaughtered in the 1980s by ivory poachers, leading to a 1989 ban on international trade in the precious white stuff. But in southern Africa the species is far from endangered; indeed, the area is now overpopulated with elephants. Two weeks ago, TIME reported that Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia wanted permission not to kill elephants but merely to sell stockpiled ivory, taken mostly from animals that had died of natural causes or been culled. Environmentalists objected, on the grounds that any legal sales would encourage poachers to go back in business. But last week the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species voted to let the three nations sell a total of almost 60 tons to Japan--under strict monitoring to make sure contraband ivory stays off the market. Profits from the sale will be used for elephant-conservation programs.

--By Michael D. Lemonick