The decision to ban the trade was made during the international Cite Convention Cite conference in Swiss Geneva. The debate was hot-tempered and the vote was even, and the ban had to be softened up a bit to finally be able to vote through Sunday.

Now the African elephant will only be traded to keep them in game reserves in the natural habitat of the animals - but in "exceptional cases" they will be allowed to move in order to preserve the species.

"A big step forward"

A total of 46 member states supported the proposal to restrict the sale of wild elephants, according to Iris Ho, specialist at the non-profit animal rights organization Humane Society International.

"It's a big step forward," she tells Bloomberg.

Do not want a ban

Botswana and Zimbabwe both say they have too many elephants and want Cites to loosen up a bit on the rules. In the two countries, a total of over 200,000 African elephants live, according to Bloomberg. Above all, it was Zimbabwe who opposed the ban, which since 2012 has captured and exported over 100 elephant pups to Chinese zoos, according to Humane Society International.