Yahoo Japan, the country*s biggest online auction site, is rebuffing calls to end online ivory trading despite Yahoo Inc. CEO Marissa Mayer*s misgivings over facilitating a business blamed for the illegal slaughter of African elephants.

Yahoo Japan doesn*t accept that ivory sold on its platform 〞 supposedly imported into Japan before a 1989 ban on international shipments 〞 is a factor behind the sharp rise in poaching on the African savannah in recent years.

Dismissing animal rights campaigners* concerns, even though the ivory business contributes only a fraction of its sales, Yahoo Japan also says that as long as no laws are broken people should be able to trade whatever they like on the internet.