Given the task definition and input, reply with output. In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.

View Images The new ivory rules ban the commercial import of African elephant ivory. 
  
 PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL NICHOLS, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 
  
 New restrictions on the ivory trade designed to create "a near complete ban" on the commercial sale of African elephant ivory in the U.S. were announced Tuesday by the Obama Administration. 
  
 Elephants and rhinos have taken center stage in global coverage of illegal wildlife trafficking, and the ivory restrictions are a cornerstone of the administration's new plan. (Read "Blood Ivory" in National Geographic magazine.) 
  
 This federal action complements growing momentum among states, such as New York, that are now contemplating their own ivory bans. 
  
 American rules governing international and domestic trade in elephant ivory are notoriously complex and have been further complicated by unequal enforcement over the years. 
  
 The new rules are designed to eliminate several existing forms of trade and, in an important step, to shift the burden of proof for whether ivory is legal from the government to an ivory holder. This shifting of the burden of proof is a major innovation, as most wildlife criminals in the U.S. benefit from the government's having to prove that endangered wildlife in their possession was smuggled. (Imagine a cocaine trafficker looking a DEA agent in the eye and saying, "Prove I smuggled it.") 
  
 View Images The U.S. crushed six tons of confiscated ivory in November, the start of a global push to stop the illegal ivory trade. 
  
 Photograph by Joe Amon, The Denver Post, Getty 
  
 Among key provisions, the new ivory rules ban the commercial import of African elephant ivory, meaning that it will now be illegal to import antique ivory commercially. (Read more in National Geographic's A Voice for Elephants blog.) 
  
 Likewise, sport hunters of African elephants will have restrictions on what they can bring back to the U.S. Before the new rules, big-game hunters could use loopholes in African and U.S. laws to bring back large numbers of "culled" elephant heads, including ivory. Now, hunters will be limited to importing two dead elephants a year. 
  
 The new rules are designed to force people with ivory to prove how and when an item was imported. Legitimate imports of, say, antique ivory for personal use or for use in approved musical instruments will have to come through designated "antique" ports. Or ivory will have to be designated for scientific or law enforcement purposes. 
  
 "Bold Actions" 
  
 The U.S. has the world's leading DNA laboratory for analyzing elephant ivory, a key tool in mapping poaching hot spots. Unfortunately, red tape restricting trade in ivory also hangs up exchange of ivory samples for DNA testing and law enforcement. Hopefully, the new rules will make this a smoother process, something parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) should also undertake. 
  
 What is most heartening about the U.S. announcement is that it signifies that the ivory crush the U.S. conducted in November 2013 was not meaningless. Destroying ivory is a symbolic act. It has no impact on the international ivory trade without additional action. 
  
 In 1989, Kenya burned its ivory, then voted for an ivory ban. Today, a growing number of countries are destroying their ivory stocks but without announcing any subsequent action to stop the trade. Tying action to symbolism is critical if change is to occur. 
  
 View Images NG Staff. Sources: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, CNN, BBC, Kenya Wildlife Service 
  
 In all, the new rules represent a significant step forward in reducing the American role in the international ivory trade and in helping American law enforcement stop traffickers. (Related: "New WildLeaks Website Invites Whistle-Blowers on Wildlife Crime.") 
  
 "These bold actions give us all the tools we need to shut down black market elephant ivory trafficking in this country," said William Woody, chief of law enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We're eliminating the loopholes that help smugglers launder newly poached blood ivory via U.S. markets." 
  
 Summits Are Important; Action Is Needed 
  
 On February 12 and 13, British Prime Minister David Cameron hosts a global summit on wildlife trafficking, focused largely on the African elephant. 
  
 Everybody and his uncle in wildlife conservation is clamoring for a seat at the table or an invite to a related symposium held the day before by the Zoological Society of London. 
  
 On the ground, from Africa to Asia, what's needed is the breakup of criminal ivory trafficking syndicates and the poachers they employ. 
  
 In the home, consumers need to turn away from ivory and the terrible cost in human and animal lives of the blood ivory trade. 
  
 In the halls of government, leaders need to engage the world's biggest consumer of legal and illegal ivory: China. ||||| Nichols's dedication to photographing elephants grew from his work with conservationist J. Michael Fay, with whom he produced "Megatransect," a 15-month project that surveyed an uninhabited swath of African jungle by foot, including its elephant colonies. Here, young bulls grapple and test each other, learning valuable skills they will need in their adulthood. 
  
 Samburu National Reserve, Kenya, 2007 Nichols's dedication to photographing elephants grew from his work with conservationist J. Michael Fay, with whom he produced "Megatransect," a 15-month project that surveyed an uninhabited swath of African jungle by foot, including its elephant colonies. Here, young bulls grapple and test each other, learning valuable skills they will need in their adulthood. Michael Nichols/National Geographic/Aperture 
  
 The photographs in “Earth to Sky” reveal the secret lives of elephant families and show the suffering that the animals have known because of the thriving ivory trade. The book spans 20 years of National Geographic photographer Michael Nichols’s work. 
  
 The photographs in “Earth to Sky” reveal the secret lives of elephant families and show the suffering that the animals have known because of the thriving ivory trade. 
  
 The photographs in “Earth to Sky” reveal the secret lives of elephant families and show the suffering that the animals have known because of the thriving ivory trade. 
  
 In what animal conservationists hailed as a “significant milestone” in the global fight against elephant poaching, the Obama administration on Tuesday announced a ban on nearly all ivory sales in the United States. 
  
 Part of the new National Strategy on Wildlife Trafficking , the ban is intended to end a trade that threatens to wipe out the world’s largest land animal. The administration said that for the first time, vendors must prove beyond any doubt that ivory offered for sale complies with the Endangered Species Act. 
  
 Administration officials said authenticity can be established only with a permit — from the U.S. government or a foreign government — showing that the ivory was imported before a ban in 1989. Antique ivory, older than a century, is also exempted, with proof of age. Even with a permit, the sale of ivory will not be allowed across state boundaries, according to an administration official. 
  
 Conservationists said those restrictions are especially important to combat illegal poaching and trafficking in ivory, which have exploded in recent years. 
  
 Driving the robust black market are the value of ivory, estimated at $1,500 a pound by the time it reaches China, and of rhinoceros horn, worth more than its weight in gold, according to authorities, with estimates as high as $25,000 a pound. 
  
 1 of 16 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Inside a Thai elephant sanctuary: View Photos The Elephant Nature Park is home to 35 elephants that came here disabled from abuse in the logging or tourism industries. Notice the elephants are missing their tusks. Caption The Elephant Nature Park is home to 35 chang (the Thai word for “elephant”). They came here disabled from abuse in the logging or tourism industries. Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham captured images from inside the haven, which is open to visitors. July 3, 2013 The Elephant Nature Park, in the mountains of northern Thailand, near Chiang Mai, takes in abused elephants that are blind and disabled from mistreatment. The park is one of the few rescue outposts in Thailand, a country that has fewer than 5,000 elephants now, compared with 100,000 a hundred years ago. Lillian Cunningham/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
  
 The United States is the world’s second-largest market, behind China, for illegal wildlife artifacts. The legal sale of ivory in the United States and around the world helps to disguise black-market sales, U.S. prosecutors and other law enforcement officials say. 
  
 Officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said U.S. leadership is key, as was shown last year when the nation crushed several tons of seized ivory, leading China and France to follow suit. 
  
 Elephants that once roamed the African plains by the millions now number fewer than a half-million, and about 35,000 are killed each year. Last year, more than 1,000 rhinos were poached in South Africa alone. 
  
 “Every piece of ivory comes from a dead elephant,” said Jeff Flocken, regional director for North America at the International Fund for Animal Welfare. “The U.S., by coming up with this national strategy, is saying they take wildlife crime very serious. We’re looking at our own house and how we can address our own consumption.” 
  
 It has been impossible for law enforcement, through observation, to identify whether ivory was purchased before 1989 or was antique. Shifting the burden to the seller to prove an artifact’s age is a huge development, Flocken said. 
  
 The World Wildlife Fund’s president and chief executive, Carter Roberts, called the proposed changes “a significant milestone in the global fight against wildlife crime . . . reflecting the fact that it has grown into one of the most profitable criminal industries in the world, estimated at $10 billion annually.” 
  
 The administration made combating illegal trafficking in ivory and rhino horn a priority for several federal agencies, including the departments of State, Justice, Homeland Security and Interior, which oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service. 
  
 1 of 14 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × The life of wildlife inspectors: View Photos Because of budget cuts, stopping the illegal trade in wildlife is about to get harder. Caption Because of budget cuts, stopping the illegal trade in wildlife is about to get harder. Feb. 28, 2013 A bleached gorilla skull and gorilla hand in a display of confiscated illegal items by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport. Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
  
 The strategy has three major parts: strengthening enforcement; reducing demand for black market wildlife artifacts in the United States and the world; and building strong partnerships with world governments and nonprofit groups. Tuesday’s announcement focused solely on tougher regulation of ivory sales, complementing a ban since the late 1970s on the sale of rhinoceros horn in the United States. 
  
 Commercial exports of ivory products also will be banned, except for proven antiques and items covered by specific exceptions under the Endangered Species Act, officials said. A special Fish and Wildlife rule that relaxed restrictions on trading ivory will be revoked under the strategy. 
  
 Permits for importing elephant sport-hunting trophies collected by American hunters in African nations will be reduced to two a year. 
  
 In addition to elephants and rhinoceros, animals ranging from endangered tigers to turtles are slaughtered to sell hides and other parts, often for the benefit of organized criminal syndicates. 
  
 President Obama signed an executive order creating a federal task force and a separate advisory commission on wildlife trafficking in July. Tuesday’s announcement was the product of the task force’s first recommendations. 
  
 The announcement followed recent congressional approval of nearly $50 million to fight illegal wildlife trafficking this year. It was made ahead of Thursday’s London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade. 
  
 The conference is described on a British government Web site as a meeting of global leaders to “eradicate the illegal wildlife trade and better protect the world’s most iconic species from the threat of extinction.” |||||

The Obama administration today announced a ban on nearly all ivory imports, exports, and sales, along with rules designed to make skirting the ban especially difficult. Under the new rules, all commercial imports of African elephant ivory are banned, including antiques. Most domestic sales will be banned as well; there are exemptions for antiques, as well as ivory that meets Endangered Species Act protections, but it'll be up to sellers to prove beyond doubt that their ivory qualifies. That last change is especially important, activists tell the Washington Post, because it's been nearly impossible for law enforcement to figure out which ivory was purchased before the 1989 ban. "We're eliminating the loopholes that help smugglers launder newly poached blood ivory via US markets," the chief of law enforcement for the US Fish and Wildlife Service tells National Geographic. The move comes just in time for a global summit on wildlife trafficking that David Cameron is hosting today and tomorrow.