eBay announced that, effective January 1, 2009, it will no longer permit the sale of ivory on the site. Two exceptions are pianos with ivory keys and wood furniture with ivory inlays - if the item was created before 1900.

The company had worked on the policy decision with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which issued a press release on Monday. "IFAW is grateful to eBay for taking this important step forward for elephant conservation. By setting the bar with a global ban on ivory, eBay is proving to be an example for both governments and online dealers to also take a stand on one of today's most critical wildlife issues - Internet trade," said Barbara Cartwright, IFAW Campaigns Manager.

The IFAW had conducted an investigation that tracked more than 7,000 wildlife product listings on 183 Web sites in 11 countries, and it singled out eBay, citing its users were responsible for almost two-thirds of the online wildlife trade worldwide.