The trade of ivory — it’s a commercial, mostly illegal, corrupt and lifedestroying industry that threatens the existence of some of the planet’s oldest and most important species. It involves the legal and illegal import, export and sale of the ivory tusks and horns of animals, largely from elephants and rhinos, but also from walruses, narwhals and hippopotamuses.
Ivory has been traded by humans for hundreds of years, and is ultimately driven by the demand in consumer countries, mostly in the Far East, where it is sought after as a status symbol, for investment and for its believed ‘medicinal’ properties. In the past, ivory was globally used to make piano keys, billiard balls, jewellery, decorative ornaments and paintings, and in traditional Asian medicines. The horrendous act of poaching animals of their tusks is, quite rightly, now illegal, and in many countries the sale of ‘new’ ivory (from animals after 1947) is a criminal act. But this has not halted poaching or the industry, which has grown into a burgeoning underground affair. The international trade in illegal ivory is estimated to be worth £17 billion annually, being the fourth largest illegal trade. It is a serious and organised crime that is annihilating wildlife populations, as well as harming local livelihoods and fuelling similar global criminal networks.
Catastrophic consequences