EBay Inc will institute a global ban on the sale of all ivory products via its online auction site by January 1, after a conservation group found over 4,000 illegal elephant ivory listings by sellers.

African and Asian elephants are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the international Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

“We feel this is the best way to protect the endangered and protected species from which a significant portion of ivory products are derived,” eBay said on its blog on Tuesday.