Update on the state of elephant poaching and the ivory trade

[DavidBrown]

The Economist has a short but very informative article on the state of the ivory trade and elephant poaching

Poaching: Black ivory | The Economist

 

[nanoboy]

I was in a trendy, upmarket shopping district of Hong Kong in December 2011, and came across a shop selling ivory products, beautifully hand-carved.

All the signs in the shop proclaimed that the ivory was from mammoth tusks excavated in Siberia.

That raises two questions for me:

1. How do we know that they don't sell elephant ivory under the counter, or even over the counter?
2. Can mammoth ivory be a sustainable and more desirable raw material, if marketed correctly ("buy the ivory of an extinct species, own a piece of history blah blah")?

 

[Hix]

1. You don't. And can you tell the difference between mammoth and elephant ivory?

2. Mammoth Ivory can never be sustainable, in the true sense of the word - it will run out at some point.



Hix

 

[nanoboy]

1. You don't. And can you tell the difference between mammoth and elephant ivory?

2. Mammoth Ivory can never be sustainable, in the true sense of the word - it will run out at some point.



Hix

1. I can't tell the difference, but there must be a sure-fire testing and certification process - like carbon 14 dating or something.

2. True - kind of like diamonds, gold and oil. We always seem to keep finding new deposits as the market prices increase, making exploration and recovery more viable though.

On a side note, aren't hippo teeth made of ivory? How come they aren't being poached as much as elephants? Or maybe they are, and only the elephants get the media coverage?

 

[DavidBrown]

Another article on the rise of elephant poaching in Africa. It looks like conservationists and African governments are going to need to learn to work with China to get this problem under control.

African elephant slaughter highest in more than two decades, experts say – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

 

[nanoboy]

Here is a new article on the ivory trade: BBC News - The illegal ivory trade threatening Africa's elephants

Looks like I have no hope of ever laying eyes on a forest elephant.

 

[DavidBrown]

There is a new investigation of the ivory trade on the Discovery Channel coming called "Ivory Wars", and update of a 1989 report during the last ivory crisis:
Discovery Channel's IVORY WARS Goes In-Depth on Elephant Poaching, 6/23