NAIROBI, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) on Tuesday lauded eBay's plan to institute a global ban on the sale of elephant ivory products by Jan. 1, 2009, calling on all other Internet traders to follow their example.

IFAW said in a statement issued in Nairobi that the decision came just hours before the release of the organization's latest investigative report, showing Internet trade in wildlife poses a significant and immediate threat to the survival of elephants and many other endangered species.

The IFAW report, which followed a six-week investigation that tracked more than 7,000 wildlife product listings on 183 websites in 11 countries, singled out eBay as the largest contributor to the problem, responsible for almost two-thirds of the online trade in wildlife products worldwide

IFAW's report, Killing with Keystrokes: An Investigation of the Illegal Wildlife Trade on the World Wide Web, will be released Wednesday and shows that more than 70 percent of all endangered species' products listed for sale on the Internet occur in the United States.

Elephant ivory dominated the investigation, comprising 73 percent of all product listings tracked. Exotic birds were second, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the listings tracked, but primates, big cats and other animals are also falling victim to the e-trade in live animals and wildlife products, according to the report.

"IFAW congratulates eBay on this very important step to protect elephants. With these findings and eBay's leadership, there is no doubt left that all Internet dealers need to take responsibility for their impact on endangered species by enacting and enforcing a ban on all online wildlife trade. eBay has set the standard for protecting elephants, now governments and other online dealers need to follow their example," said Barbara Cartwright, IFAW Campaigns Manager.

Over 4,000 elephant ivory listings were uncovered during the investigation, with most of the sales taking place on eBay's U.S. site. In one instance, a user purchased a pair of elephant tusks off eBay for more than 21,000 dollars.

"With a few limited exceptions, selling ivory has been illegal since 1989," said Jeff Flocken, Director of IFAW's Washington office. "However, Web sites are still teeming with ivory trinkets, bracelets, and even whole tusks for sale."

"Internet dealers profit off of every piece of elephant ivory sold on their Web sites, and every piece of that ivory came from a dead elephant."

International trade in wildlife is estimated to reach well into the billions of U.S. dollars annually -- a black market rivaling the size of the international trade in illegal drugs and weapons.

Every year, more than 20,000 elephants are illegally slaughtered in Africa and Asia to meet demand for ivory products. 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).