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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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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Trade in Mammoth Ivory

It is 4,000 years or more since the last woolly mammoths, with their spectacularly curved tusks and heavy shaggy coats, roamed the icy wastes of Siberia and Alaska. Climate change and hunting by prehistoric humans are thought to have driven them to extinction.
Although elephants are plentiful in Southern African countries such as Botswana and South Africa, in some countries of Central and West Africa, poaching is now pushing populations to extinction. (photo by Flickr user exfordy)
But the trade in ivory from the tusks of the ancient animals is now booming – and may present a risk to the future of the African elephant, conservationists fear.
The bodies of thousands of woolly mammoths have been found preserved in the frozen Siberian tundra, and the tusks are the best-preserved part of all.
According to a report, as much as 60 tonnes of Siberian mammoth tusks are being exported from Russia every year, mainly to China, where they end up in the workshops of its flourishing ivory-carving trade, being turned into brooches, pendants, figurines and thousands of other ivory objects, and sold around the world.
Conservationists are concerned that this legal trade could be used as a front for the laundering of illegally poached elephant ivory, thereby fuelling the poaching of elephants. The trade in African elephant ivory was outlawed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, Cites, in 1989, to halt the plunge in elephant numbers.
“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 per cent,” said Mark Jones, programmes director at Care for the Wild, the international wildlife charity which commissioned the mammoth ivory report. “Poaching continues to threaten wild elephants. Anything that encourages the continued demand for ivory products, whether mammoth ivory or elephant ivory, could potentially exacerbate this threat.”
The report, by Edmond and Chrysee Martin, paints a remarkably detailed picture of a flourishing and valuable commerce in extinct animals – worth more than $20m (£12.6m) annually.
It points out that trade in woolly mammoth ivory has been going on in Russia and the rest of Asia for thousands of years, and reached a peak in the 19th century, but during the communist period from 1917 to 1991 business declined sharply.
However, since the early 1990s the domestic and international trade in mammoth tusks has reopened and expanded owing to the freeing-up of the Russian economy, more foreign visitors to the country and greater demand for ivory because of the Cites ban.
“In recent years,” says the report, “60 tonnes of mammoth tusks have been exported annually from Russia, mostly to Hong Kong for carving in mainland China.” There are also carving industries in parts of Russia, but most of these objects are sold on within the country.
Hunting for the tusks is now a major activity. “Every year from mid-June, when the tundra melts, until mid- September, hundreds if not thousands of mostly local people scour the tundra in northern Siberia looking for mammoth tusks,” the report reveals.
“All are Russians, as foreigners cannot obtain a permit to collect tusks. Some tusks are easily seen on the banks of rivers while others are detected on the flat lands. All types of transport are used to transport the tusks: boats, lorries, aeroplanes and even helicopters.”
The centre of the trade is the Siberian town of Yakutsk. Once the tusks are accumulated, traders send large planes to pick them up and send them to Moscow. They are paid for by weight. With the average export price of mammoth ivory in 2009 being $350 per kilogram, or $350,000 per tonne, the current trade is worth about $21m per year to Russia. The vast majority of the tusks are sent to Hong Kong, although some also go to Germany and the US. Nearly all are then re-exported to mainland China, where there is a well-established ivory carving trade, and where they are crafted into ivory objets d’art: some stay in China for domestic sale but many are sent back for sale to Hong Kong, and all around the world.
“Many thousands of recently made mammoth ivory items are for sale in Asia, Europe and North America,” says the report. “People wishing to buy an elephant ivory object may purchase a similar one crafted from mammoth ivory that is legal and free of cumbersome paperwork. Mammoth ivory items are not for sale in Africa. If mammoth objects were to be offered in Africa, they could be a cover for elephant ivory items.”
However, the report’s authors fall short of calling for a mammoth ivory ban, saying there is no evidence that the worldwide mammoth ivory trade is yet affecting either the African or Asian elephant.
“For this reason, and because the species is extinct and large quantities of tusks are still available in Siberia, it is the opinion of the authors that a ban on mammoth ivory commerce is not currently justified,” says the report.
Yet they sound a cautionary note, saying: “In future, a problem could occur if mammoth tusks of Chinese-made ivory items were brought into African countries, where law enforcement is poor, specifically as a cover for illegal elephant ivory carving and sales.”
Although elephants are plentiful in Southern African countries such as Botswana and South Africa, in some countries of Central and West Africa, poaching is now pushing populations to extinction. Chad is thought to have only a few hundred left while Senegal and Liberia may have fewer than 10. Sierra Leone’s last elephants were wiped out by poachers in November last year.
In Kenya, whose wildlife protection measures are among the strongest in Africa, the number of elephants killed by poachers rose from 47 in 2007 to 98 in 2008 and 214 in 2009. Reports suggest that at least 15 tonnes of African ivory tusks and pieces – the equivalent of up to 1,500 elephants – were seized in, or en route to, Asia during 2009.
Mammoth facts: The history – and prehistory – of a colossal creature
The woolly mammoth, mammuthus primigenius, sometimes also called the tundra mammoth, is perhaps the best known of the several species of mammoth which existed in prehistoric times, due to the many well-preserved carcasses found in the frozen tundra of Siberia.
Woolly mammoths were no bigger than Asian elephants, though their spectacular curving tusks were in a class by themselves, reaching up to seven feet long and weighing as much as 70kg each – which, at $500 per kilo for the best quality, is a lot of ivory, and a lot of money for the finder.
Protected against the cold in their long, shaggy coats, they roamed the frozen plains of Eurasia during the Ice Age, but declined to extinction about 10,000 years ago, probably because of human hunting, though it is thought that small groups may have survived into historic times.
It is believed that a dwarf subspecies may have survived on Wrangel Island, in the Arctic Ocean, until as late as 1,700BC.
Rumours persist that the animal may still survive in tiny numbers in the taiga, the vast Siberian plain forest, much of which remains unpenetrated – but nobody has ever provided any convincing evidence.
Copyright 2010 Independent Print Limited
Posted by chrisy58 on September 29, 2010 at 3:49 pm
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