Saving the Elephants: The Love of Tusks in Central Park (Photos)

Page 1***2: Page 1 Page 1 Page 2 Endangered animals (Megan Maher/Copyright WCS)

The tusks of elephants slaughtered in large numbers can be recovered in ten These magnificent animals will be wiped off the face of the earth within a year. The ivory crusher, in which various intricately carved objects were destroyed, sent a clear message that *** would not tolerate such crimes against wildlife. On Thursday, August 3, 2017, New York State ground its stockpile of nearly 2 tons of confiscated ivory into ash. This was the third time in four years that I had shot a scene like this. In New York City's iconic Central Park, hundreds of pieces of art made from ivory sit side by side like tombstones, just as they once were elephants. I passed by this elephant cemetery and was deeply saddened to see that the number of items made from small tusks completely outnumbered the large tusks. I know that these once belonged to the youngest elephants. African elephants remain in the midst of a crisis driven by demand for ivory. Passing a law banning the sale of ivory will help protect one of the world's most iconic species from extinction. Wider communication would bridge the divide, where protecting and killing elephants for their ivory reflects competing cultural values. With up to 96 elephants being killed every day in Africa, we don't have much time before our last remaining elephants are gone.

Julie Larson Maher is the staff photographer for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the first woman to hold this position since the society was founded in 1895. In addition to field trips, Maher photographed these animals at WCS's five wildlife zoos in New York (Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, New York Aquarium, Prospect Park Zoo, and Queens Zoo). She contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Columns and Insights. Beautiful Heartbreak (Julie Larsen Maher/Copyright)

Nearly 2 tons of illegal ivory were destroyed in a Central Park rock crusher.

Tears of Mourning (Julie Larsen Maher/Copyright WCS)

Mick Fleetwood, Fleetwood Mac and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Ambassador, when Emotions grew when seeing the tusks carved from the tusks of countless elephants. Crowds watch (Julie Larsen Maher/Copyright WCS)

Hundreds of people gathered in New York's Central Park for the third ivory crush in the United States in the past four years. Inspiring the Crowd (Julie Larsen Maher/Copyright WCS)

John Calvelli, executive vice president of public affairs at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), said it was a big deal for the ivory traffickers whose tusks were crushed in Central Park. What a bad day. Punishing Ivory Traffickers (Julie Larsen Maher/Copyright WCS)

Lt. Jesse Paluch, an environmental protection investigator with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and a New York DEC officer, brings a giant carved ivory to the crusher. Be a Conservation (Julie Larsen Maher/Copyright WCS)

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation workers take carved ivory to the crusher. Ivory Dust (Julie Larsen Maher/Copyright WCS)

A rock crusher grinds confiscated ivory into dust. Forgotten (Julie Larsen Maher/Copyright WCS)

Intricate ivory carvings were destroyed to send a message to wildlife traffickers. Detailed design destroyed (Julie Larsen Maher/Copyright WCS)

New York State Department of Environmental Protection Officer Joe Schneider and Basil Segos, New York State Department of Environmental Protection Director, hold up an exquisite ivory Carved onto conveyor belt for crushing.

Exquisite work (Julie Larson Maher/Copyright WCS)

New York State Office of Environmental Protection