zeeder said:
So it's only when humans eat the animal that it's okay for us to use other parts of said animal?
Well, I didn't start this thread to tell you what is okay for you to do. However, if you're really are interested in my opinion, I'll go ahead and answer.
Yes, I believe that animals in the wild, in general, are capable of catching their own food. To say that an elephant will be eaten by "something" and therefore its okay to slaughter hundreds of thousands of them, is in my opinion, not a very good argument. When the elephants are slaughtered on that sort of scale, I think its safe to assume that the vast majority of them are going to rot, only to be eaten by bacteria, worms, and so on.
There is also the possible extinction issue that others have raised. Some species of elephants have already become extinct due to the demand for ivory.
There have also been studies that suggest that
elephants are "self-aware", which is a characteristic that only a couple other species besides humans possess. That's just one more reason why I'd want to avoid ivory.
I think Trueblu8 gave a good summary of how I feel with the Dances With Wolves example. Unfortunately, instead of learning from the Native Americans, "the white man" practically drove them to extinction as well.

(I should add here that I'm white, so don't think I'm racist.

) Anyway, I digress.
(EDIT: Added quotes around "something".

)