Yahoo Japan is facing growing pressure to change its policy on ivory sales on its ecommerce platform. Ivory produced since 1989 is illegal, but Yahoo Japan permits the sale of older ivory that was produced before the 1989 treaty came into force. Critics have said that this encourages present-day hunters to obtain ivory and pass it off as pre-1989 ivory, however, thereby fuelling the hunting of elephants and speeding up their extinction. Over a million people have now signed an online petition asking Yahoo Japan to stop selling all ivory products on its ecommerce site. A spokesperson from the company declined to say whether Yahoo Japan would change its policy on the sale of ivory on its platforms following the pressure, but did admit that change was a possibility. Yahoo Japan is one of the most popular online portals in the country, with 88% of Japanese internet users using the site.Â
