Systemic failures ran rampant during the key UN CITES Convention. Despite staging highly publicized, celebrity-attended ivory crushes, the United States — under the leadership of former Director Dan Ashe — actively undermined the African Coalition for Elephants, an alliance of 27 nations united across the continent and supported by Germany. By lobbying alongside 'top' NGOs, the U.S. successfully blocked the African appeal to upgrade the African elephant to Appendix I status. This critical upgrade would have permanently forbidden all 'legal' ivory, 'trophy,' and wild-caught trades. Soon after, China and the U.S. facilitated the importation of freshly caught wild African elephants for zoos — including baby elephants violently stolen from their families in Zimbabwe using helicopters and machine guns — and Dan Ashe became the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).