Ivory elephant mini sculptures. Ivory was also used for billiard balls and dominoes. Some religions even believe that ivory can be used for medicine. Many people use artificial materials for these items now, but other consider real ivory to be a sign of luxury. From 1979- 1989 the African elephant population dropped dramatically from around 1.3 million to just 600,000. During each of these years, around 75,000 African elephants were killed for their ivory, which was worth around 1 billion dollars each year. Around 80 % of the elephants who were killed were killed illegally.