The regulator of global wildlife trade will likely ban sending African elephants captured from the wild to zoos after countries supported the move Sunday, in what conservationists hailed as a "historic win."

A large majority of countries voted in Geneva to prohibit the transfer of elephants caught in the wild to so-called captive facilities - a practice animal protection groups have long.

The vote was the first rendered during a 12-day meeting of the parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which kicked off on Saturday with thousands of conservationists and policymakers from more than 180 countries in attendance.

The vote still needs to be approved by the full conference before the meeting concludes on August 28. "This decision will save countless elephants from being ripped away from their families in the wild," a senior wildlife specialist with Humane Society International, said in a statement.