Actor and World Wildlife Fund global ambassador Jared Leto implored the United States to end its commercial ivory trade in an effort to end the poaching that has decimated Africa's elephants.

In an article co-written with Carter Roberts, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund, the pair said the U.S. needs to follow China's lead and make moves to phase out the country's domestic ivory trade.

"If China makes good on this promise, Africa's elephants may actually have a fighting chance," the article stated. "While the Chinese pivot toward zero ivory, the U.S. lags on this critical front in the fight to save elephants"

In early June, the conservation group Traffic found a "catastrophic" decline of elephants in Tanzania due to uncontrolled poaching. The local government found the country's elephant population, one of the largest on the African continent, dropped some 60 percent in five years, from 109,051 in 2009 to 43,330 in 2014.
Source: UPI