Currently going for about $3,300 (about R46 000) per pound, the global trade in ivory is worth about $23 billion annually, a reality made plain by the gruesome photos of butchered elephants that have become almost commonplace. In recent years, massive seizures of ivory seemed to signal a headlong rush toward extermination. In response, the EU this year proposed a near total ban on the trade of ivory anywhere in the bloc. In combination with existing restrictions in China and US, the proposed rules might help build momentum toward a global clampdown, shifting scrutiny to south-east Asia, where much of the remaining trade has moved. A theory has developed among wildlife experts, one holding that big seizures are signs not of catastrophe, but that tightening global controls are working. The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime noted in its annual wildlife crime report that recent seizures could mean investors are liquidating their stockpiles in the belief that, thanks to trade bans, prices are on the way down for good.