“Ivory is worthless unless it is on our elephants,” Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta said at a ceremony in Nairobi National Park.

The tusks of almost 7,000 elephants, weighing more than 100 tonnes, have been burned in Kenya in a symbolic warning to ivory poachers.

Ben Curtis / AP

"We are going to put you out of business," Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta said in a message to poachers, delivered to a crowd gathered for the burning ceremony at Nairobi National Park on Saturday.

Around 5% of the global stocks of ivory was burned in 11 symbolic pyres, along with 1.35 tonnes of rhino horn.

While the trade of ivory has been banned since 1989, authorities have estimated that the stockpiles would have been worth around $105 million (£82 million) on the black market.

"This will send an absolutely clear message that the trade in ivory must come to an end and our elephants must be protected," Kenyatta said.

Ben Curtis / AP

Kenyatta will join global leaders in pushing for a total international ivory ban at a United Nations summit later this year, which would include the sale of ivory bought before 1989.

While the import of ivory into China – where it is highly prized – is illegal, activists have expressed concern that legal sales of ivory could cover up the illegal sale of newly produced, smuggled ivory products.

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