Would you sell her an ivory set? - Mid Day.com

Ignorant trader lands up at animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi's house to sell a necklace made from Elephant Tusk. Is sent to jail.
Idiot!
What else would you call a man who tried selling banned ivory jewellery to India's most renowned firebrand animal rights activist.Raj Harmohinder, an elephant tusk seller, made an offer that Maneka Gandhi couldn't refuse. The former environment minister got a call on October 22 at 2 pm from Harmohinder, who introduced himself as an ivory trader and asked her whether she was interested in buying a rare ivory necklace.

Harmohinder may get three years imprisonment or fine which may
extend to Rs 25,000, or both
Delhi is the collection point for skin and other animal products that cater
to the huge demands of markets in Tibet and China
In 38 years, the prosecution has failed to secure the maximum sentence
of seven years jail against any offender under the Wildlife Act
Harmohinder, who apparently did not know that Maneka Gandhi is a former environment minister and the most prominent animal rights activist of the country, said though the original cost of the necklace was Rs 20 lakh he could offer it for just Rs 10 lakh.
The deal was fixed and Maneka called him to her 14, Ashoka Road residence at around 4:30 pm the same day.
Foolish Harmohinder did not realise even after reaching her residence that he is walking into a trap.
Maneka told MiD DAY that she was shocked when Harmohinder offered her the ivory jewellery. "He didn't know me and showed me the necklace. A senior police official who was present in mufti explained to him about me," she said.
Harmohinder was immediately detained for interrogation, in which he told the cops that he had bought the necklace from the Kucha Bagh area in Chandni Chowk. A police team was sent at the said address to arrest but police team returned empty handed.
Harmohinder told the cops that he was given Maneka's phone number by a man who lives in Vivek Vihar in east Delhi. "He had approached a man in east Delhi to buy his goods. But that guy gave him Maneka Gandhi's number instead," a senior police official said.
The officer said Harmohinder might just be a pawn and this could be bigger racket. "We are interrogating Harmohinder about his links. We will start conducting raids once we get the full information," he said.
An FIR in this regard was registered at Parliament Street police station under sections 39/49/49B/51 of the Wild Life Protection Act.
250 tigers, 2,000 leopards, 5,000 otters, 20,000 wild cats, 20,000 wild foxes. That's the number of wild animals that law enforcers have been able to count as falling prey to the deadly trade plied by Sansar Chand, 55, dubbed the Veerappan of the North. Chand, who was arrested in July 2005 and is presently serving a jail term.
In India, forests that once covered much of the subcontinent have been reduced to a fraction of their former area. In addition, forest fragmentation means that only half of India's remaining forests are still suitable for elephants.
Elephants need to migrate across a wide area of forest to find food throughout the year. When forests are reduced to small, scattered patches, elephants are forced into villages and croplands, leading to violent conflicts with humans.
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, is an international treaty with over 160 member nations. Since 1975, Asian elephants have been listed on Appendix I of CITES, which prohibits all international commercial trade in Asian elephants and Asian elephant ivory.
The estimated 35,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants that remain in the wild are found only in isolated areas of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan; continental Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam; the Malay Peninsula; Sri Lanka; Sumatra; Borneo; and the Andaman Islands off the coast of India in the Bay of Bengal. The African elephant is much more numerous than the Asian elephant, but the species underwent a dramatic decline in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of poaching for the ivory trade. No one knows for sure, but it has been estimated that there were about 1.2 million African elephants in the late 1970s, but probably fewer than 500,000 remain today.
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Lift the Ivory Trade Ban

Mar 16, 2010 Mark Somerfield
African Elephants: Should the trade ban be lifted? - Public licence
Discussions regarding trade in elephant tusks have tended to dominate CITES (Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species) meetings for many years. Many African Elephant species are listed as endangered by the IUCN and most count as Appendix I banned trade items under CITES.
Yet several African nations have submitted motions to allow restricted trade on their own elephant populations, in some cases on repeat occasions. Ivory is big business, particularly in Asia, where there is a high demand for it for use in traditional family seals, handicrafts and art work. Furthermore, combating elephant poaching is a costly process and many nations argue that the proceeds for managed sales of elephant tusks could be used to help conserve them.
In 1989, African Elephants were listed under CITES as an Appendix 1 endangered species, effectively banning the international trade in ivory. A number of petitions to downgrade the listing by some African nations were rejected in subsequent years, until 1997 when Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe were allowed to sell raw ivory stocks to Japan in a one off sale. Petitions to allow further trade in 2000 were rejected.
In 2002 Namibia, Botswana and South Africa were allowed to trade a further 60 tons, and in 2008 a further seven tonnes were sold, fetching around £700,000 from bidders in Japan and China. A subsequent 10-year moratorium was imposed on further proposals for ivory trade - yet in 2010, ivory trade discussions are back on the table. This time, it is Tanzania and Zambia who are the main protagonists.
Before the 1950s it is estimated that there were around 5 million elephants in the wild. But the increasing globalization of trade coupled with ready markets in Asia meant that the ivory trade boomed in the subsequent decades. In the 1980s it is estimated that 100,000 elephants were being killed a year, decimating herds by upward of 80% in some regions – Kenya suffered the worst, losing 85% of its population between 1979 and 1983.
Yet in other countries, such as Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, populations were either sustained or even increased. This geographical disparity that has caused disagreement over the best way of handling the ivory trade.
Those who argue for regulation believe that money made from the sale of ivory could be invested in stopping poaching. Poaching in many regions is on the increase. In 2007, 45 elephants were killed by poachers in Kenya, but in 2009 that figures was 271. For poachers the high value of ivory as a commodity and the ready markets in Asia make poaching worth the risk.
But others believe that the rise in poaching has come about as a direct result of the ivory sales in 2008 and that legalising the trade in ivory would simply lead to market growth. Moses Litoroh, one of the co-ordinators of Kenya's elephant programme, has described that market as 'insatiable' and believes that the evidence shows that supply of ivory creates further demand.
The IUCN, the parent organisation of CITES, has a commitment to maintaining an a dialogue with human development agencies and a careful approach is needed to balance economic, social and environmental concerns.
While the CITES delegates all realise that the welfare of such species is paramount, disagreement will continue over the best management solutions to ensure that welfare. There are case studies that demonstrate both successes and failures of both blanket bans and management schemes and recommendations based on science are often filled with caveats, due to the difficulty of implementing rigorous methodologies in such complex environments.
Whatever the outcome of the latest petitions, the trade in ivory is a complex issue that is unlikely to disappear in the near future.
References
Telegraph "Elephant Tusks Sold Legally For First Time In A Decade", 28 Oct 2008.
Elephant Voices, "CITES and the Ivory Trade" (January 2010)
CITES (March 16 2010)
Copyright Mark Somerfield. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
African Elephants: Should the trade ban be lifted? - Public licence High demand for ivory in China and Japan - Public licence Poaching is on the rise in Kenya - Lord Mountbatten$(function() {$(".imageCarousel").jCarouselLite({btnNext: ".next",btnPrev: ".prev",visible: 3});});
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S. Africans in Vietnam to counter rhino horn trade: NGO - MSN Philippines News

By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 10/20/2010South African officials were in Vietnam Wednesday to discuss ways of curbing the illegal trade in rhinoceros horns used in traditional Asian medicine, a conservation group said.
The South Africans are involved in enforcement against the rhino trade and were to meet their Vietnamese counterparts, said Traffic, the British-based global wildlife trade monitoring network, which organised the trip.
The two nations aim to increase collaborative law enforcement, it said.
"Vietnam has been increasingly implicated as a main driver of the illegal rhino horn trade in Asia, and a major trade route has emerged connecting illegally killed rhinos in South Africa with consumers in Vietnam," Traffic said in a press release.
While Asian rhinos have likely been eliminated in Vietnam, partly because of poaching for their horns, there are still important wild rhino populations in Africa, especially South Africa, Traffic said.
"It's vitally important to scale up Africa's law enforcement efforts and link with Asia in the fight to save the world's rhinos", Tom Milliken, regional director for Traffic in East and Southern Africa, said in the statement.
"We'll only win this war if both sides align against the criminal syndicates behind this trade."
Vietnamese media reported earlier this year that police seized about 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of ivory near the border with China, after recovering hundreds of kilograms last year. Much of it was tusks illegally imported from Kenya.
There is a booming black market in African ivory linked to Asian crime syndicates, experts and delegates said early this year at a meeting in Doha of the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Traffic says rhino horns are sold in Vietnamese traditional medicine shops, hospitals and online. Elsewhere in Asia the horns are also believed to cure a range of ailments, the group said.
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TRAFFIC - WildlifeTrade; News - Zimbabwe moves to tighten ivory

Zimbabwe has tightened legislation governing the legal trade in ivory souvenirs

—The government of Zimbabwe has revoked the right of licensed domestic ivory traders to issue “Short Export Permits” at the time ivory products are legally purchased as souvenirs.
The move will stop abuse of the legal trade in ivory souvenirs.
“Zimbabwe believes in sustainable and legal wildlife trade, but we will not tolerate unscrupulous individuals who abuse the system”, said Mr Vitalis Chadenga, Director General of Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
“We are committed to curtailing any illegal trade in ivory from our country and request the co-operation of the global community to help us achieve that objective.”
All Parties to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) have been asked not to authorize the import of ivory carvings when an individual presents a Short Export Permit from Zimbabwe.
Formerly, such Permits were supplied by Zimbabwe’s CITES Management Authority to licensed curio traders who could issue the document to souvenir buyers at the time of purchase.
CITES Parties have authorized such trade in ivory carvings from Zimbabwe for non-commercial purposes since 1997, when the country’s elephant population was transferred to Appendix II of the Convention.
But that decision did not allow trade in raw ivory, which was never intended to be covered by the Short Export Permit system.
However, documented cases have come to light whereby unworked elephant tusks were being illegally offered for import to a number of countries using Short Export Permits.
Now anyone wishing to take ivory carvings out of Zimbabwe will need to obtain an export permit from one of three CITES Management Authority offices in Harare, Bulawayo or Victoria Falls.
“TRAFFIC applauds the Zimbabwe government for this positive development,” said Tom Milliken, Regional Director of TRAFFIC’s programme for east and southern Africa.
“It’s the right thing to do and sends a clear message against illegal trade practices.”
Earlier this year, the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) report prepared by TRAFFIC on behalf of CITES Parties noted the Zimbabwe government had previously suspended trade in ivory products because of abuse of the regulatory system.
The rule changes were announced through an official Notification to all CITES Parties issued by the Convention’s Secretariat on 16 August (Notification No. 20010/024).
Zimbabwe has the third largest elephant population in Africa, with nearly 100,000 animals, according to the African Elephant Database of the IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group.
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South African and Vietnamese wildlife officials meet to stem rhino horn trade - The Christian Science Monitor

Cape Town, South Africa
Wildlife officials from South Africa and Vietnam have held their first face-to-face meetings in Hanoi aimed at halting the trade in rhino horns, which has seen 232 animals slaughtered this year.
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Conservationists say the Asian country is the biggest customer for poached horns stripped from the dead rhinos, which some Vietnamese believe can cure cancer.
Rhino horn, which can fetch up to $4,000 a pound on the black market, is used as a handle for daggers in some countries, and used throughout parts of Asia as medicine and as an aphrodisiac.
Poor customs regulations and a lack of political will have been blamed for allowing the illegal trade to flourish, which has led to a public outcry in South Africa. Pictures of de-horned rhinos have become a common sight in the media.
After growing international pressure, a five-strong government party from South Africa made up of police, national park and environment department officials is holding four days of talks with their Vietnamese counterparts to find solutions to the problem. Although no one expects the meetings to lead to an immediate drop in the smuggling, most observers agree that it's an important first step toward stemming the trade.
“The Vietnamese agreeing to talks and acknowledging there is a problem with poaching is a significant first step," says Dr. Richard Thomas from the wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic, which organized the trip. "There is a lot of evidence to say the horns are being smuggled to Vietnam so it’s important that there is joint co-operation between the governments.”
So far this year, 232 rhinos have been killed in South Africa for their horns, compared to 122 last year and 81 the year before.
“Poaching has become extremely sophisticated," says Mr. Thomas. "Poachers can dart a rhino, chainsaw off its horn, and helicopter it off in a matter of minutes. It can end up on the Asian market within 30 hours.”
The Asian rhino population in Vietnam has been seriously depleted, partly because of poaching says Traffic.
But there is still a healthy black and white rhino population in Africa with South Africa holding an estimated 90 percent of the 21,500 total.
STORY: After half-century absence, Black Rhinos fly home to Serengeti
Conservationists point to Kenya where the rhino population collapsed from 20,000 in 1970 to around 600 now, as a worst case scenario unless poaching is curbed.
"[The rhino horn trade] is being driven by crime syndicates which can only be tackled by close government cooperation," says Faan Coetzee, a rhino conservation expert at the Endangered Wildlife Trust in South Africa, has helped co-ordinate the top level meetings. "They earn a lot of money out of horn smuggling so it’s them you need to tackle, not the foot soldiers on the ground.”
"The Vietnamese seem serious about dealing with illegally poached ivory," says Mr. Coetzee. "We want to see a greater commitment to stopping the horns from getting into the country and laws against possession of [rhino horn]. Once it gets into the country, it just slips away and it’s difficult to trace. There needs to be better intelligence between our police and theirs and regular contact between governments. Having the first face-to-face meetings is important because once you’ve made contact and got a name, you develop a relationship."
Thomas, however, cautions that the talks are only an initial move toward a solution.
“Traffic isn’t anticipating any quick-fix overnight solutions, but we’re very pleased that direct dialogue between the two countries on the rhino horn poaching issue has been opened," he says. "This is an important step in building a long-term relationship between the two nations that will ultimately lead to a successful curtailing of the poaching crisis.”
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Total ban to Ivory Trade- The Petition Site

The dramatic increase in ivory poaching across Africa is being fuelled by organised crime based in china and the Far East, according to a new report.
This has resulted in a surge in ivory prices from around $241 per kilogram in 2004 to more than $6,446 today.Scientists now estimate that between eight and 10 per cent of Africas elephants are being killed each year.
The report which is based on the latest analysis of seizure data in the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) suggests an increased involvement of organised crime syndicates in the illicit ivory trade, connecting African source countries with Asian end-use markets.
According to the latest statistics, more than 14,000 products made from the tusks and other body parts of elephants were seized last year  an increase of more than 2,000 since 2007.The Etis data shows that such crime syndicates have become stronger and more active over the last decade.
Etis analysis identifies Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Thailand as the three countries most heavily implicated in the global illicit ivory trade. china, which along with Japan was an approved destination of the legal Cites sanctioned one-off ivory sale in 2008, faces a persistent illegal trade challenge from its nationals no based in Africa.

Ongoing evidence highlights widespread involvement of overseas chinese in the illicit procurement of ivory, a problem that needs to be addressed through aggressive outreach and awareness initiative directed at chinese communities living in Africa, the report says.
Situation has really become alarming and scientists estimate that between 8% and 10% of Africa's elephants are now being killed each year to meet the high ivory demand. World's largest animals are once again under great jeopardy, and many of them are being each year viciously slaughtered by merciless poachers that care only for money.
Sadly, as long as there is high demand for ivory, merciless elephant poaching will continue, and the solution to this problem is hard to find. One fact is sure, elephants, especially the ones in Africa, need much more protection because poaching gangs are becoming more and more organized, and there are not enough rangers to stop them.
Another big problem is hunger in Africa that is becoming worse and worse, especially as many African countries are suffering terrible drought, and people are hungry without food and money. Hungry people are desperate people, and poaching brings good money, so many local people turn to elephant poaching.
Current estimates say that more than 40,000 elephants were killed last year. Stop this slaughter!

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Jaipur: City police arrest duo for smuggling ivory idols - NDTV

Jaipur:  Jaipur police have arrested two persons allegedly involved in the illegal trade of idols from Kalwar Road. Acting on a tip-off, the police laid a trap to nab Mukesh Saini and Mahendra Jangir who came to city to sell the ivory idols.
After preliminary investigation, police said the duo got these idols from Jhunjhunu district and were trying to sell them for lakhs of rupees.
"The duo [Saini and Jangir] fell in the trap, laid by the police. During initial interrogation, the duo revealed that they bought these five ivory idols from a person in Jhunjhunu district. He [the person] in turn had smuggled these idols from Kolkata," they said.
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Everything Dinosaur :: Mammoth Ivory Trade

Trade in Siberian Mammoth Tusks could Aid in Elephant Extinctions
The once diverse and widespread Order Proboscidea (animals with trunks) have very few representatives left on planet Earth.  Of the Elephants, these once quite common creatures are restricted to Africa and parts of Asia, however, trade in the ivory of long-dead members of the Elephantidae family - Mammoths, could harm existing populations of these animals.
Mammoths have been known for many thousands of years.  Humans relationship with the Mammoth goes back a very long way, the cave paintings of these hairy, long tusked creatures by our ancestors are testament to this relationship.  They are perhaps the most well researched animals from the Ice Ages and recent films such as the Ice Age trilogy have made "Manny the Mammoth" almost as popular as Tyrannosaurus rex.  Indeed, in the Everything Dinosaur annual prehistoric animal popularity survey, the Woolly Mammoth usually comes out in the top ten and is the often the most popular non-dinosaur animal.
The permafrost in Siberia is melting, as climate change takes affect.  So much fossil material is being discovered that a trade in dead Mammoth ivory has sprung up.  The trade has actually been around for over 100 years or so.  In the 19th Century, the native herds-people of Siberia used to regard the exposed carcases of Mammoths with fear.  Many of these people believed the Mammoths to be giant moles that were very much alive and to approach a thawing carcase would bring disease and bad luck.
The very last Mammoths, a population of dwarf Woolly Mammoths lived on Wrangel Island, to the north of Siberia. This isolated population became extinct only 4,000 years ago, just a few hundred years before the great Egyptian civilisation came about.
An Ice Age Woolly Mammoth HerdPicture Credit: Schleich of GermanyTo view Schleich prehistoric animals: Schleich Prehistoric MammalsA new study, undertaken by Care for the Wild, a conservation charity, suggests that up to sixty tons of ivory is taken from Siberia each year.  The amount of Mammoth ivory entering the global market now exceeds that from elephants, most of which is obtained by illegal poaching in sub-Saharan Africa.  So plentiful are the Mammoth remains, that some Russian businessmen have taken to hiring planes to scour the vast tundra so that rotting carcases can be spotted and the ivory removed.  This growing trade in prehistoric ivory has raised concerns over the effect on extant species of elephant.  The Mammoths may be fossils, but they are not permineralised, the ivory is not replaced by minerals.  The fossils are firstly, too young for full permineralistion to occur and their method of preservation, essentially frozen in the permafrost, like being stored in a giant freezer permits the organic ivory and other material to remain intact.Some conservation groups are concerned that real elephant ivory could be passed off as Mammoth ivory, thus permitting the poaching network a route to market.The author of this new study, Esmond Martin, an expert in the ivory trade; stated:"Every year from mid-June when the tundra melts until mid-September, hundreds of people search the tundra in northern Siberia looking for Mammoth tusks".Scientists have estimated that the frozen north of Russia may still contain an estimated 150 million dead Mammoths, however, the exploitation of the Mammoths as a resource is also denying palaeontologists the chance to study these extinct animals.A spokesperson for Everything Dinosaur commented:"It is important to remember that we still have a great deal to learn about these amazing creatures [Woolly Mammoths], the ransacking of the tundra for Mammoth ivory is denying scientists the opportunity to study the remains properly.  As climate change affects our own species, we have the opportunity to learn about how temperature changes led to the demise of another large mammal species."The report is published in "Pachyderm" a journal focusing on elephant conservation.  It is published by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.  Rather than taking the pressure off those elephant species that remain, the huge amount of Mammoth ivory coming onto the global market could lead to increased demand for ivory from any source, including extant elephants.Esmond Martin, commented that the greatest threat on modern elephants lies in the possibility of Mammoth ivory being exported to Africa, where shipments could be mingled with tusks from African elephants.  The Indian Government has already imposed a complete ban on Mammoth ivory, fearing just such a threat and wanting to protect the few wild Indian elephants that remain.Mark Jones, a spokesperson for Care for the Wild said:"The trade in elephant ivory is illegal and we need to monitor anything that might increase the threat to elephants.  The hope must be that this Mammoth ivory will reduce demand but it is changing the whole market and we need to monitor it."There is another factor that needs to be considered when examining the trade in Mammoth ivory.  When scientists are working on the thawing carcase of a Mammoth such as Lyuba, the remarkably well preserved baby Mammoth found a few years ago, great care is taken to avoid contamination from germs and other pathogens that may be de-frosting too.  Some of these bugs could be quite harmful to our own species, after all, we have not been exposed to them for thousands of years.  When working with such fossil material there is always the risk of exposure, we suspect that no precautions are taken by the Mammoth ivory hunters.  Trade in Mammoth ivory may not just be deadly to elephants.
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TRAFFIC - Wildlife <b>Trade</b> News - Thai Customs seize four suitcases <b>...</b>

Customs officers display the 4 seized suitcases containing a total of 90 kg of ivoryIn yet another important ivory seizure at Suvarnabhumi International Airport this year, Customs officers have apprehended 90 kilogrammes of ivory from a passenger attempting to smuggle it into the country packed inside four large pieces of luggage.

The 62-year-old Malaysian national was stopped at International Arrivals on the 28th August after Suvarnabhumi Airport Passenger Control Customs Bureau officers found 16 pieces of cut ivory upon searching the man’s bags.
The suspect had arrived on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Bangkok. The ivory was confiscated and the case is now under review by the Customs Department.
The latest seizure underlines the important role Customs officers play in the war on illegal wildlife trade.
The Thai Royal Customs has been at the helm of a string of headline-grabbing ivory seizures since late 2008. The department also made three huge seizures this year, netting two tonnes of ivory in February, 1.4 tonnes in April and close to 800 kilogrammes in July; all at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport.
“The Thai Royal Customs is committed to taking strong measures to ensure that proper legal import and export procedures under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora is adhered to at every check-point across the country especially Suvarnabhumi Airport,” said Mr. Ekalarp Rattanarut, Director of Suvarnabhumi Airport Passenger Control Customs Bureau.
Although Ethiopia has made strides addressing illegal trade in ivory in recent years, its airport in Addis Ababa remains a major transport hub through which contraband ivory continues to move.
China, for example, made 139 ivory seizures in 2009 alone from Chinese nationals coming from Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airways flights.
Thailand, together with Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, were identified as the three countries most heavily implicated in the global illicit ivory trade in the most recent analysis of the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), the world’s largest database of elephant product seizure records.
ETIS is managed by TRAFFIC on behalf of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
“The Customs officers responsible for this ivory seizure in Thailand are to be commended, although the fact this trade continues illustrates that Thailand’s domestic ivory market remains a serious issue,” said Chris R. Shepherd, Deputy Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.
“Unless Thailand starts making ivory seizures in the marketplace, we fear its ivory trade will continue.”
“Airlines also need to be increasingly aware and vigilant in order to ensure they are not used and therefore implicated in the global ivory trade,” he added.
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;Antique Ivory Chess Set - Rare Chess Sets

An Antique Ivory chess set is very valuable. These rare chess sets were made from ivory in the past, many centuries ago. They have a different form than modern day chess pieces as they reflect a different culture. Some are from the 7th and 8th centuries.
The teeth and tusks of the elephant, hippopotamus, mammoth and walrus are made of ivory.

Nathaniel Cook and John Jaques created the first ivory set of Staunton chess pieces in the 19th century. The Staunton style became the standard.

Ivory was widely used hundreds of years ago, but it is hard to get ivory nowadays due to animal protection laws. For that reason new ivory chess sets are very rare and sell for more than $900.

New Chessmen made from 40,000-year old Wooly Mammoth Ivory according to the original Staunton pattern, registered by Nathaniel Cook and produced by Jaques in 1849, comes with a personalized Certificate of Authenticity and an original manufacturer's label indicating the production number...

Get them here...
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RussiaGuilt-fre Mammoth ;Ivory: How will it affect illegal trading?

In recent times, mainstream press has carried stories of the growing trade in ‘guilt-free’ mammoth ivory being dug up in Russia and being sold mostly in China. The most recent news items are based on a research paper published in Pachyderm – the journal of the African Elephant, African Rhino and the Asian Rhino Specialist Groups of the IUCN – by Esmond Martin and Chryssee Martin.
Huffington Post image of Michelle Obama wearing a necklace made from mammoth ivory
The paper, titled, ‘Russia’s mammoth ivory industry expands: what effect on elephants?’ explores the effects that this growing trade will have on Africa’s elephants. On the one hand, the paper acknowledges that this trade could reduce demand for elephant ivory and consequently considerably reduce poaching of the African Elephant. On the other hand, the authors are cautious that should mammoth ivory be imported into Africa (none has been reported to have entered the continent so far), then – it being legal and all – it could provide an easy disguise for poached elephant ivory. Illegal ivory traders could start selling elephant ivory disguised as mammoth ivory.
That said, Martin and Martin specifically say that the trade in mammoth ivory should not be banned as it does not presently pose any threat to the African Elephant. They however make it clear that monitoring of the chief markets of mainland China and Hong Kong should be monitored to see how the trend goes.
Some facts:
Russia sells about 60 tons of mammoth ivory to ChinaThere may be as many as 150 million dead mammoths (genus Mammuthus) frozen beneath the Siberian tundra just waiting to be dug up.Mammoth ivory can command a much higher price than elephant ivory and sells for as much as £330 per kilogramWoolly mammoths are thought to have first appeared on the earth 4.8 million years ago and to have finally become extinct at least 3,600 years ago.Trade in raw elephant ivory is banned globally but one off ivory sales have been allowed by CITES on different occasions since the ban.Illegal trade in ivory is the major threat to the African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) survival.A list of press articles related to Martin and Martin’s paper can be found here.
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Mammoth ivory tradeand the possible impact on wild elephants

Unbeknown to many, the trade in woolly mammoth ivory is thriving. A staggering 60 metric tonnes of mammoth tusks are exported from Russia each year, according to a recent report commissioned by Care for the Wild International.
The report, compiled by ivory trade experts Dr. Esmond and Chryssee Martin, identified Hong Kong as the major importer, from where most tusks are distributed to carvers in mainland China. Many thousands of carved mammoth ivory products are then sold into markets in Asia, North America, and Europe.
Conservationists worry that this legal trade could be used as a front for the laundering of illegally poached elephant ivory, thereby fueling the poaching of elephants.
“Wild elephant populations were decimated by the ivory trade. By the time the 1989 CITES ban came into force, Africa’s elephants had been reduced by more than 50%”, said Mark Jones, Programs Director at Care for the Wild International.
“Poaching continues to threaten wild elephants. Anything that encourages the continued demand for ivory products could potentially exacerbate this threat.”
The report’s author Dr Martin doesn’t think this is currently the case.
“We don’t find mammoth ivory products for sale in Africa, because they are currently too expensive. If we did, they could be used as a cover for elephant ivory. As things stand, we don’t believe the mammoth ivory trade is adversely affecting either the African or Asian elephant.”
While whole mammoth tusks are relatively easy to distinguish from elephant tusks, differentiating some small carved items can be difficult. Although it seems that there is little or no attempt to disguise items made of elephant ivory as mammoth ivory in Western countries, if mammoth tusks or carved items made from them were to start to appear in markets in Africa, there could be a problem.
As Dr Martin suggests, it is imperative that we continue to gather information on the demand for elephant and mammoth ivory, legal and illegal, raw and worked, in Hong Kong and mainland China, if we are to develop a true understanding of the complex dynamics of this trade.
A link to the report can be found here.
BM/Care for the Wild International
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