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In 2019, Royal Assent was granted to the United Kingdom’s Ivory Act 2018. The legislation, introduced by Environment Secretary Michael Gove in 2018, was welcomed by politicians and conservation gro...

Jelen tanulmány célja az elefántcsont mint nyersanyag lehetséges forrásaira és értékére vonatkozó, a római és a késő ókori mediterrán világból származó adatok áttekintése, információkat nyerve ezáltal a 6–7. századi Kárpát-medence régészeti hagyatékából előkerült elefántcsonttárgyak eredetére, elérhetőségére és árára vonatkozólag. A hellenisztikus kortól a kora középkorig terjedő időszakban a Földközi-tenger vidéki elefántcsont-kereskedelem dinamikáját megvilágító írott és tárgyi források áttekintése nyomán úgy tűnik, hogy a 6–7. századi Közép-Duna-vidéki elefántcsonttárgyak nyersanyaga a Földközi-tenger medencéjén keresztül Afrikából, ezen belül is talán a kontinens keleti feléről érkezett. Megállapítható emellett, hogy a mediterrán világ keleti és középső régióiban készült, a Kárpát-medencébe elkerült elefántcsonttárgyak nem tekinthetők kiemelkedően drága luxusjavaknak, többségük viszonylag szerény áron megvásárolható volt.The present paper seeks to examine the available data on the possible sources and monetary value of elephant ivory, both as raw material and finished products, in the Roman to late antique Mediterranean world in order to gain a better understanding of the wider context of elephant ivory artefacts dating from the sixth and seventh centuries discovered in the Carpathian Basin. After reviewing the written and material evidence on the dynamics of the Mediterranean elephant ivory trade from the Hellenistic period until the Early Middle Ages, our main conclusion is that the raw material of the sixth- to seventh-century ivory objects of the Middle Danube Region in in all probability originated from Africa, possibly from the continent’s eastern parts, and arrived to this area through the Mediterranean. It is further argued that the few artefacts manufactured of elephant ivory in the eastern and central regions of the Mediterranean that reached the Carpathian Basin cannot be regarded as extremely expensive luxury goods – in fact, their majority would have been quite affordable to customers of more modest means.

This paper outlines and applies the concept of 'selective liability' (i.e., operating as if there was a genuine choice between fault-based and strict liability legal regimes) to examine the apparent plausible deniability pact between online selling platforms and the sellers. Through an analysis of online trading data, this paper considered the issues inherent in prosecuting traders who use online auction platforms to sell ivory in contravention of ‘CITES’ regulations. Three bone euphemisms for ivory (antique bovine bone, antique cow bone, antique Chinese cow bone) were identified to track sales over the course of 90 days. The results showed that sellers are using such euphemisms to sell ivory online and these findings highlighted the contradiction between a firm’s ban on ivory sales and the apparent ease with which ivory is sold through a website.

The morphological identification of raw biological material used to produce archeological artifacts is sometimes difficult or even impossible. In recent years, newly developed biochemical techniques have allowed more reliable identification of exploited animal species, even for otherwise taxonomically undiagnostic fragments, and thus can help pinpoint the geographical origin of the raw material. However, in addition to being costly, these techniques involve destructive sampling. This explains why they are rarely applied to archeological artifacts, especially those made of precious, imported raw material or those representing intact works of art. Here, we analyzed the ancient DNA (aDNA) of a medieval chess piece made of ivory of unknown origin, recovered from a medieval settlement in Jambes (Namur), Belgium. This chess piece was broken during excavation. We took this unfortunate event as an opportunity to perform aDNA extraction, to try to answer three questions: (1) What Proboscidean species does the ivory come from?; (2) Can we establish the geographic origin of the ivory more precisely?; and (3) Does doing so help our understanding of (part of) the trade route followed by the ivory? We sequenced two short fragments of the mitochondrial genome and compared them with publicly available DNA data. This enabled the identification of the raw material as an African elephant (genus Loxodonta). Although the results cannot exclude that the ivory comes from a forest elephant, the recovered DNA sequence is currently found only among savanna elephant DNA records. The ivory likely originates from an eastern or southern African country and was therefore probably transported along the African trade route passing through the Swahili Corridor. However, the precise itinerary followed by this ivory from the African shore of the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, and then to the archeological site from which it was recovered, remains unknown. Such identification contributes to documenting past trade networks and long-distance exchange.

Objects carved from elephant ivory and steatite (soapstone) have been identified with Byzantine culture from Late Antiquity to the Late Byzantine period. Mainly relief icons, and ceremonial and liturgical objects, most are small enough to be held in the hand or worn as amulets. No other organic material carried as high an intrinsic and symbolic value as elephant ivory, and its increasing rarity in the Middle Byzantine era lent carved objects especially high status. When the trade ceased in the eleventh century, steatites took on greater importance. Evidence of polychromy on ivories has altered traditional perceptions of the medium and its aesthetic. Technical analyses and interdisciplinary approaches have the potential to shed new light on long-held issues.

The elephant ivory trade remains controversial because of concerns about the extinction risk of elephants and the different needs of CITES member states. Thailand's situation is particularly contentious because of the different legal status among types of elephant ivory. Thai law allows the local sale of ivory from domesticated Asian elephants, which creates challenges for Thai enforcement officers in identification of ivory provenance. We investigated the capacity of non‐destructive Near Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy (600–1700 nm), combined with Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS‐DA), to discriminate between ivory from African, wild Asian and domesticated Asian elephants. Ivory spectra of 64 elephants were divided randomly into calibration and validation datasets. We were able to determine elephant ivory provenance at both the interspecies (African and Asian elephant ivory), and within species (wild and domesticated Asian elephant ivory) classifications with 100% accuracy. These results showed the potential use of handheld NIR spectrometers for rapid assessments of ivory provenance, as well as a forensic tool for wider enforcement.

The determination of the age of elephant ivory is a crucial aspect in the fight against illegal ivory trade which is still a relevant problem having triggered the decline of elephant populations due to poaching in different areas of the globe. Indeed, the absolute dating of the ivory allows, in forensics practice, to establish whether a determined sample or object was obtained and imported illegally, violating the international trade ban. In this frame the use radiocarbon dating has surely a great potential and is widely used. In this paper we review the potential of the method in this field, highlighting its advantages and drawbacks. In particular we show, through the discussion of real cases, how it is possible to improve the achievable chronological resolution by refining the obtained ages trough the proper use of available information and considerations.

In response to the CITES ban on trade in elephant ivory, mammoth ivory began to be produced in post-Soviet Russia. We investigate how this substitute to elephant ivory has affected the poaching of elephants. We argue that the early success of the 1989 ivory ban at increasing the African elephant population was driven in part by increasing supply of mammoth ivory. The more recent increases in poaching appear to be driven by increasing demand and falling African institutional quality. We find that absent the 80 tonnes of Russian mammoth ivory exports per annum 2010–2012, elephant ivory prices would have doubled from their $ 100 per kilogram level and that the current poaching level of 34,000 elephants per year may have increased by as many as 55,000 elephants per year on a population of roughly half a million animals.

Despite efforts of law enforcement, tech companies and other stakeholders, the illegal online trade in wildlife products continues to increase. A particular problem in tackling this online illicit trade is the misdescription of item materials, making the search for internationally CITES regulated materials, such as elephant ivory, challenging. We investigated the issue of misrepresentation of materials in item descriptions by studying the trade in netsuke, carved objects, attached to the cord of the kimono, originally from 17th century Japan, that are often made of elephant ivory. The study, conducted on the online marketplace, eBay, in the United Kingdom, shows that elephant ivory is still sold in spite of eBay’s policy on ivory. While the netsuke trade is small, elephant ivory was most frequently described as cow bone. Our results also indicated that, among the items identified as elephant ivory, only a small fraction were actually detected and removed by eBay. To discourage the sale of ivory items, eBay should increase its efforts to implement its policy banning the trade in ivory. Further, eBay could consider additional restrictions on the range of words that can be used by the vendors in all of the item listing fields.

Summary The oldest known shipwreck in southern Africa was found in Namibia in 2008. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 Forty tons of cargo, including gold and silver coins, helped identify the ship as the Bom Jesus, a Portuguese nau (trading vessel) lost in 1533 while headed to India. 4 , 5 , 6 The cargo included >100 elephant tusks, 7 which we examined using paleogenomic and stable isotope analyses. Nuclear DNA identified the ivory source as African forest (Loxodonta cyclotis) rather than savanna (Loxodonta africana) elephants. Mitochondrial sequences traced them to West and not Central Africa and from ≥17 herds with distinct haplotypes. Four of the haplotypes are known from modern populations; others were potentially lost to subsequent hunting of elephants for ivory. Stable isotope analyses (δ13C and δ15N) indicated that the elephants were not from deep rainforests but from savanna and mixed habitats. Such habitats surround the Guinean forest block of West Africa 8 and accord with the locations of major historic Portuguese trading ports. 9 , 10 West African forest elephants currently range into savanna habitats; 11 , 12 , 13 our findings suggest that this was not consequent to regional decimation of savanna elephants for their ivory in the 19th and 20th centuries. During the time of the Bom Jesus, ivory was a central driver in the formation of maritime trading systems connecting Europe, Africa, and Asia. Our integration of paleogenomic, archeological, and historical methods to analyze the Bom Jesus ivory provides a framework for examining vast collections of archaeological ivories around the world, in shipwrecks and other contexts.

To prevent the illegal trade in wild species, stock management is critical given stocks function as a buffer to supply chains during lean periods or as a mechanism for market speculation. The Madagascar government with backing by the World Bank recently promoted the sale of confiscated rosewood to reach a zero‐stocks situation. To better assess options, we contrast the risks and rewards of four stock management options. Stock destruction broadcasts a potent conservation message, but provides little economic benefit. National trade can be beneficial to local socioeconomic development goals, but can lead to laundering of illegal products. International trade is fraught with risks related to illegal trade and is perceived to achieve the least related to forest and socioeconomic indicators. Lastly, banking stocks act to postpone decisions. No management option ensures a sustainable solution, but critical analyses allow better insight to the strengths and weaknesses of the available approaches., Conservation Letters, 13 (4), ISSN:1755-263X

The impacts of early ecological globalisation may have had profound economic and environmental consequences for human settlements and animal populations. Here, we review the extent of such historical impacts by investigating the medieval trade of walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) ivory. We use an interdisciplinary approach including chaîne opératoire, ancient DNA (aDNA), stable isotope and zooarchaeological analysis of walrus rostra (skull sections) to identify their biological source and subsequent trade through Indigenous and urban networks. This approach complements and improves the spatial resolution of earlier aDNA observations, and we conclude that almost all medieval European finds of walrus rostra likely derived from Greenland. We further find that shifting urban nodes redistributed the traded ivory and that the latest medieval rostra finds were from smaller, often female, walruses of a distinctive DNA clade, which is especially prevalent in northern Greenland. Our results suggest that more and smaller animals were targeted at increasingly untenable distances, which reflects a classic pattern of resource depletion. We consider how the trade of walrus and elephant ivory intersected, and evaluate the extent to which emergent globalisation and the “resource curse” contributed to the abandonment of Norse Greenland. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Globally, the rapid decline in wildlife species has many causes. The illegal trafficking of fauna and flora is a major contributor to species decline and continues to grow at an alarming rate. To enable the prosecution of those involved in the trafficking of illegal wildlife, accurate and reliable identification is paramount. Traditionally, morphology and DNA amplification are used. This paper investigates a novel application of volatilome profiling using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time of flight mass spectrometry for wildlife sample detection. Known samples of elephant-derived ivory, other dentine samples, and bone (a common ivory substitute) were used as reference samples for volatilome profiling. Subsequently, specimens that were suspected ivory from border control seizures were obtained and analysed. Confirmatory DNA analyses were conducted on seized samples to establish the reliability parameters of volatilome profiling. The volatilome method correctly identified six of the eight seized samples as elephant ivory, which was confirmed through DNA analysis. There was also clear distinction of African elephant ivory parts from the bone and dentine samples from other species, as shown through PCA and discriminant analyses. These preliminary results establish volatilome profiling through GC&times, GC-TOFMS as a novel screening method used for the identification of unknown wildlife contraband.

This article seeks to determine why the illegal wildlife trade is still flourishing in China despite the country’s adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fl...

Some researchers think that lab-grown rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory could reduce demand for the real thing.

Growing on a plastic dish, the stem cells don’t look like much. Widely spaced, with jagged borders, they resemble distantly separated islands under the bright light of a microscope. But Garrett Vygantas believes cells like these could save the rhinoceros from extinction. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have the ability to mature into any type of cell in the body. Vygantas’s company, Ceratotech, is experimenting with growing rhino horns from iPS cells. He’s among a handful of scientists who are biofabricating mimics of rhino horn and elephant ivory to drive down the black market price of these animal parts and discourage poaching. Many conservation groups oppose this approach, however, concerned that it may worsen the illegal hunting of rhinos and elephants. For instance, they worry that poachers will try to escape law enforcement by claiming that the horns they harvested from butchered rhinos are biofabricated mimics. The number of rhinos

This article examines the artefacts of big game hunting in female elephants from East Africa, natural history collections of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A contextual object biography approach is utilized to analyse the life histories of these specimens through the use of archival and isotopic evidence. Emphasis is placed on the example of an elephant shot on Mt Elgon, Kenya, in 1902, parts of which were preserved and shipped to England for curation and display in the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent. The results of isotopic analyses on some of the remains reveal a life history that has implications for developing conservation strategies for modern elephant populations in the region and contribute baseline data critical for interpreting the isotopic signatures of ancient ivory believed to have been exported from eastern Africa.

Trade in ivory from extant elephant species namely Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) and African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) is regulated internationally, while the trade in ivory from extinct species of Elephantidae, including woolly mammoth, is unregulated. This distinction creates opportunity for laundering and trading elephant ivory as mammoth ivory. The existing morphological and molecular genetics methods do not reliably distinguish the source of ivory items that lack clear identification characteristics or for which the quality of extracted DNA cannot support amplification of large gene fragments. We present a PCR-sequencing method based on 116 bp target sequence of the cytochrome b gene to specifically amplify elephantid DNA while simultaneously excluding non-elephantid species and ivory substitutes, and while avoiding contamination by human DNA. The partial Cytochrome b gene sequence enabled accurate association of ivory samples with their species of origin for all three extant elephants and from mammoth. The detection limit of the PCR system was as low as 10 copy numbers of target DNA. The amplification and sequencing success reached 96.7% for woolly mammoth ivory and 100% for African savanna elephant and African forest elephant ivory. This is the first validated method for distinguishing elephant from mammoth ivory and it provides forensic support for investigation of ivory laundering cases.

The history of listing different populations of elephants on the CITES Appendices shows how difficult it is to protect these iconic animals. At the first ever meeting of the Conference of the Parties, CoP1, in 1976, Asian elephants, always more endangered than the African species, were placed in Appendix I to prevent international trade in their ivory, and African elephants in Appendix II, so that there could be controlled trade in their ivory.

Having looked at the animals and the devastating effect poaching has on them, we must start to consider how the law can protect them. Two treaties in particular play a crucial role in determining any successful control of the illegal trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn. They are CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild Fauna and Flora, and the later Convention on Biological Diversity.

The market in elephant ivory is extremely complicated. Yet we must try to understand it if we are to make further progress, for there is a loophole that enables illegal ivory to be laundered more easily. The fact is that not all sales in elephant ivory are illegal. CITES only regulates international trade in elephant ivory.

We must recognize the fact that elephant ivory and rhino horn are ‘commodities’ that can be and are bought and sold. Goods whose value continues to skyrocket up into the stratosphere. Goods that can only further increase in value as their ‘origins’ continue to almost free-fall into extinction.

The United States and China have committed to enact “nearly complete bans” on the import and export of elephant ivory, including putting in place significant and timely restrictions on the import of ivory as hunting trophies, and taking swift steps to halt their domestic ivory trade. Unlike the United States, China has to move forward on its commitment to further restrict its domestic commercial trade. This is primarily due to China's existing certificated ivory manufacturers and retailers who own huge legal ivory stockpiles. We propose that the Chinese government use its eco-compensation funds to purchase back all legal ivory from the market. This “decommodification” could help save the elephant population worldwide. Alternatively, China could enact a domestic ban with a short phase-in period (a similar approach has been adopted by several U.S. States) to allow legal ivory merchants to sell their stockpiles. A hybrid of these two approaches could also be considered.

Summary Large animals hunted for the high value of their parts (e.g., elephant ivory and shark fins) are at risk of extinction due to both intensive international trade pressure and intrinsic biological sensitivity. However, the relative role of trade, particularly in non-perishable products, and biological factors in driving extinction risk is not well understood [1–4]. Here we identify a taxonomically diverse group of >100 marine and terrestrial megafauna targeted for international luxury markets; estimate their value across three points of sale; test relationships among extinction risk, high value, and body size; and quantify the effects of two mitigating factors: poaching fines and geographic range size. We find that body size is the principal driver of risk for lower value species, but that this biological pattern is eliminated above a value threshold, meaning that the most valuable species face a high extinction risk regardless of size. For example, once mean product values exceed US$12,557 kg −1 , body size no longer drives risk. Total value scales with size for marine animals more strongly than for terrestrial animals, incentivizing the hunting of large marine individuals and species. Poaching fines currently have little effect on extinction risk; fines would need to be increased 10- to 100-fold to be effective. Large geographic ranges reduce risk for terrestrial, but not marine, species, whose ranges are ten times greater. Our results underscore both the evolutionary and ecosystem consequences of targeting large marine animals and the need to geographically scale up and prioritize conservation of high-value marine species to avoid extinction.

‘Konstige tanden’ – False teeth made of bone and ivory from Dutch collections Dental healthcare in the past was not as advanced as nowadays. Most people who suffered from caries (or worse) had no other option than to have the ‘bad’ tooth extracted. A set of false teeth was only an option the rich could afford. Finding a suitable material for these prostheses was a struggle for the manufacturers. For a long period ivory, and sometimes bone, was the only option. The aim of this study was to examine more than one hundred false teeth made of bone and ivory from archaeological and museum collections, with the purpose to identify the used materials and to investigate the development of these dentures. Archaeological examples were the oldest false teeth recovered, the oldest dating to the 17 th century. A persistent misinterpretation is the use of walrus ivory for the manufacture of false teeth in the time under investigation. Both walrus and hippopotamus ivory have been misidentified for a long time mainly because both species have been named ‘seahorse’. Of all the examined dentures 71% was made of hippopotamus ivory, 18% of walrus ivory, 8% of elephant ivory and only 3% of bone. Before the discovery of vulcanised rubber in the mid-19 th century hippopotamus ivory was the best material to manufacture false teeth, because of the hard enamel layer which retained its white colour much longer than other materials. Archaeological finds show that hippopotamus ivory was imported for only one purpose: the manufacture of false teeth. These false teeth were probably made more often by ivory workers rather than by ‘tooth masters’. Although ivory false teeth were a good solution for esthetical reasons and to regain speech and chewing abilities, the lack of hygiene must have caused a lot of pain and trouble to their rich wearers.

Use of the internet as a trade platform has resulted in a shift in the illegal wildlife trade. Increased scrutiny of illegal wildlife trade has led to concerns that online trade of wildlife will move onto the dark web. To provide a baseline of illegal wildlife trade on the dark web, we downloaded and archived 9852 items (individual posts) from the dark web, then searched these based on a list of 121 keywords associated with illegal online wildlife trade, including 30 keywords associated with illegally traded elephant ivory on the surface web. Results were compared with items known to be illegally traded on the dark web, specifically cannabis, cocaine, and heroin, to compare the extent of the trade. Of these 121 keywords, 4 resulted in hits, of which only one was potentially linked to illegal wildlife trade. This sole case was the sale and discussion of Echinopsis pachanoi (San Pedro cactus), which has hallucinogenic properties. This negligible level of activity related to the illegal trade of wildlife on the dark web relative to the open and increasing trade on the surface web may indicate a lack of successful enforcement against illegal wildlife trade on the surface web.

An evaluation of reduced-size particle powdering methods for the recovery of usable fingermark ridge detail from elephant ivory is presented herein for the first time as a practical and cost-effective tool in forensic analysis. Of two reduced-size powder material types tested, powders with particle sizes ≤ 40 μm offered better chances of recovering ridge detail from unpolished ivory in comparison to a conventional powder material. The quality of developed ridge detail of these powders was also assessed for comparison and automated search suitability. Powder materials and the enhanced ridge detail on ivory were analysed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and interactions between their constituents and the ivory discussed. The effect of ageing on the quality of ridge detail recovered showed that the best quality was obtained within 1 week. However, some ridge detail could still be developed up to 28 days after deposition. Cyanoacrylate and fluorescently-labelled cyanoacrylate fuming of ridge detail on ivory was explored and was less effective than reduced-scale powdering in general. This research contributes to the understanding and potential application of smaller scale powdering materials for the development of ridge detail on hard, semi-porous biological material typically seized in wildlife-related crimes.

The craftsmanship of the ivory objects in Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean leave no doubt as to their intention to impress. Elephant teeth are an important raw material for the manufacture of these objects. Zooarchaeological research shows that cranial, dental, and postcranial remains of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are nearly as ubiquitous as worked ivory across Southwest Asia. This paper attempts to reconstruct the origins, habitat, range, life style and the end of the Syrian elephant. It discusses recent bone and tooth finds of this animal from Kinet Höyük and Tell Atchana in the Hatay in Turkey against the background of previous research on the ‘Syrian elephant’ and ivory production in the Levant. It confirms the proposal that Asian elephants were not endemic to the region and that their arrival was anthropogenic. The Syrian elephant was the product of the power-hungry Bronze Age elite in the region. Having become an ‘evolutionarily significant unit’ for centuries, these elephants died out in the 8th or 7th century BC. Present evidence, including off-site evidence, suggests that while their local extinction was also anthropogenic, elephants themselves were not merely passive victims in the process; they have made an already difficult and degraded environment even more unsustainable for themselves and the human communities in the region. The immense demand for ivory and competition among first commercial, then territorial powers of the Bronze Age Levant, who symbolically associated themselves with elephants, caused the birth of the ‘Syrian elephant’. In their demise, not only the elites, but also non-elite herders and agriculturalists were probably responsible.

The illegal trade in rhinoceros horn, driven largely by the demand from East and South-east Asia, is a major impediment to the conservation of rhinoceroses globally. We surveyed the town of Mong La, in eastern Myanmar on the border with China, for the presence of rhinoceros horn. No rhinoceros horn was observed in 2006 or 2009, and other African wildlife was rare or absent. During visits in 2014 and 2015 we observed two horns, presumed to be of the white rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum, and one horn tip, small discs from the horn core, horn powder and horn bangles. Shops selling rhinoceros horn all specialized in high-end and high-value wildlife, mostly for decorative purposes, including whole elephant tusks, carved elephant ivory, carved hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius canines, and tiger Panthera tigris skins. Organized criminal syndicates are involved in the wildlife trade between Myanmar and Africa, possibly via China. Mong La's geographical position on the border with China, limited control by the central Myanmar Government, and the presence of the Chinese entertainment industry provide ideal conditions for a global wildlife trade hub catering for the Chinese market. Solutions require more intense collaboration between the Myanmar and Chinese authorities to curb the trade in African rhinoceros horn in this part of Asia.

Eco-labeling of products such as ivory contributes to conservation of wildlife species and is most effective when potential consumers of such products are made aware of the threats to wildlife and protections associated with the labels. This paper investigates factors affecting citizens' perceptions of China's eco-labeling system for elephant ivory, which was established in 2004, using unique datasets collected in 2015 and 2017. The results indicate that citizens in China have little understanding of the ivory-labeling system.10% of the participants were aware of the three accreditation subsystems for ivory products regulating manufacturers, retailers, and the products and only about 20% were familiar with one subsystem. The results of Bayesian logit models show that citizens' demographic and other characteristics are significantly correlated with their knowledge of the labeling system for elephant ivory, and the effects varied for the 2015 and 2017 samples. The one consistent influence was income level, which had similar significant and positive impacts in all of the models. The temporal coefficients reflecting changes in awareness between 2015 and 2017 were not significant, indicating that knowledge of the ivory-labeling system did not increase overall during that period. Our results indicate that significantly greater outreach is needed for China's ivory-labeling system so citizens can consistently play a role in ridding the market of illegal ivory products and regulating noncommercial ivory trading. Special attention should be given to groups of citizens who have relatively little education, income, and awareness of wildlife conservation efforts.

This document provides an overview of the research and conservation work that has been undertaken to date by our team at Oxford Brookes University in regard to Asian elephants. Research began in 2006, in collaboration with various NGO’s from a range of countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar), government agencies (Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka) and local and international universities. Four major themes are recognised throughout our research; (1) the trade in live elephants, (2) the trade in elephant ivory and other body parts, (3) elephant distribution and abundance in Northern Sumatra, and (4) the wider conservation agenda of elephant conservation in Asia. The live trade in elephants concerns both the domestic trade (Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka) and the international trade (Laos, Myanmar), and has a strong welfare component that needs to be addressed. The trade in ivory is still prevalent in Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, all with strong links to China, whereas the trade in ivory in Indonesia is more localised. The distribution mapping of elephants has so far been undertaken in Aceh and North Sumatra, and we will continue within this area of research in collaboration with Universitas Syiah Kuala. With respect to the wider conservation agenda of elephant conservation in Asia, many regions and most countries face similar opportunities and challenges. Lessons learned in countries such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand, all with substantial elephant populations, need to be employed in Indonesia to better the conservation status of elephants and improve the lives of people that live side by side with the Asian elephant.

The illegal ivory trade continues to drive elephant poaching. Large ivory seizures in Africa and Asia are still commonplace. Wildlife forensics is recognised as a key enforcement tool to combat this trade. However, the time and resources required to effectively test large ivory seizures is often prohibitive. This limits or delays testing, which may impede investigations and/or prosecutions. Typically, DNA analysis of an ivory seizure involves pairing and sorting the tusks, sampling the tusks, powdering the sample, decalcification, then DNA extraction. Here, we optimize the most time-consuming components of this process: sampling and decalcification. Firstly, using simulations, we demonstrate that tusks do not need to be paired to ensure an adequate number of unique elephants are sampled in a large seizure. Secondly, we determined that directly powdering the ivory using a Dremel drill with a high-speed cutter bit, instead of cutting the ivory with a circular saw and subsequently powdering the sample in liquid nitrogen with a freezer mill, produces comparable results. Finally, we optimized a rapid 2 -h decalcification protocol that produces comparable results to a standard 3-day protocol. We tested/optimised the protocols on 33 raw and worked ivory samples, and demonstrated their utility on a case study, successfully identifying 94% of samples taken from 123 tusks. Using these new rapid protocols, the entire sampling and DNA extraction process takes less than one day and requires less-expensive equipment. We expect that the implementation of these rapid protocols will promote more consistent and timely testing of ivory seizures suitable for enforcement action.

The illegal wildlife trade is a global threat to biodiversity as well as to public health and good governance. As legislation and law enforcement have been insufficient to protect many wildlife species, conservationists are increasingly focused on campaigns to help reduce demand for wildlife products. Social marketing is increasingly being used to support biodiversity conservation efforts, but the extent of its use has seldom been researched. Based on interviews with conservation practitioners, we assess the extent to which social marketing has been used in demand reduction campaign design. We do this by investigating the level to which demand reduction campaigns met the benchmarks defined by the UK’s National Social Marketing Centre. We focus on rhino horn and elephant ivory, two high-profile products in the illegal wildlife trade and in China and Vietnam given their role as key consumer countries. We also investigate how conservation practitioners view the opportunities and challenges of using social marketing in the context of reducing demand for illegally traded wildlife products. Our findings highlight that there are substantial gaps between best practice in social marketing and current practices in the design of demand reduction campaigns. However, several elements of social marketing are widely utilized and a platform exists from which to build more comprehensive behavioral influence campaigns in future. In terms of future needs, practitioners highlighted the need for independent consumer research upon which to build target audience insights, a focus on broader audience segments beyond the product consumers, and the improvement of collaborations across institutions.

Even if it played a part, it is not so much the lesser availability of elephant ivory as the Norse expansion in the Northern Atlantic that brought the success of walrus ivory throughout Western Europe and far beyond. The strength of demand did not only bring the extinction of the species in Iceland, but it was also, most probably, one of the main drivers of the sustained Norse settlement of Greenland. Maybe for the first time, at least for such an important luxury production, the division between the places the commodity was gathered and those it was processed is complete. The main workshops were in Norway, mostly in Trondheim, but also in Germany, in England, long after the end of the Danelaw, and even in France and in Castila. Raw tusks were traded, but also carved ivories, which sometimes went back to the initial collection point. Another ivory exported from the Arctic seas, narwhal teeth are even more problematic. The Greenland Norse probably never were in contact with the live sea mammal, but would find its inidentifiable body, or fragments of it, on the shore, after the animals had been eaten by killer whales.

Illegal wildlife trade is a rapidly evolving environmental crime that is expanding through e-commerce. Because of the nature of the internet, detection of online illegal wildlife and enforcement has proven to be difficult and time-consuming, often based on manual searches through the use of keywords. As a result of scrutiny, traders in elephant ivory now use code words to disguise the trade, thus adding an additional level of complexity. Here we look at the use of 19 code words and phrases associated with the online trade in elephant ivory items on eBay across four European Union (EU) member states. Results show that, in spite of eBay's ban on ivory, elephant ivory is still being offered for sale across all four sites we searched (183 ivory items offered by 113 sellers during 18 January–5 February 2017). Beyond the violation of eBay's Terms and Conditions, other potential illegalities included offers for sale across international borders without mention of CITES permit requirements, and the offer of ivory that may be considered unworked, which violates EU regulations. Code word usage was found to be consistent across all four EU countries. Although the rise of online wildlife trade is of concern, the growth of global markets may homogenize conventions within trading communities, such as in this case the code words used. Homogenization of conventions may therefore offer opportunities for tackling the illegal online trade in wildlife.

Global demand for elephant ivory is contributing to illegal poaching and significant decline of African elephant (Loxondonta africana) populations. To help mitigate decline, countries with legal domestic ivory markets were recommended by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora to close domestic markets for commercial trade. However, implementing stricter regulations on wildlife trade does not necessarily mean compliance with rules will follow. Using an online questionnaire, we examined the relationship between self-reported compliance with ivory trade regulations among 115 ivory traders in the United Kingdom and 4 dimensions (control, deterrence, legitimacy, and social norms) hypothesized to influence compliance with conservation regulations. Although most traders supported regulations, a large number did not always check that they comply with them when trading objects containing ivory. The main factors influencing compliance with ivory trade regulations were traders' ability to comply and their perceptions of the regulations and punishments to deter illegal trade. These findings demonstrate the utility of conservation criminology to improve wildlife trade regulations and identify opportunities to reduce illegal ivory entering the market in the United Kingdom. Compliance could be improved by clearer regulations that facilitate easier detection of illegal ivory products and stronger prosecution of violations.Cumplimiento de las Regulaciones del Mercado de Marfil entre Comerciantes del Reino Unido Resumen La demanda mundial por el marfil de elefante está contribuyendo a la caza ilegal y a la declinación significativa de la población del elefante africano (Loxondonta africana). Para ayudar a mitigar la declinación, la Convención sobre el Comercio Internacional de Especies Amenazadas de Fauna y Flora Silvestres recomendó a los países que tienen mercados domésticos legales de marfil que cierren estos mercados al intercambio comercial. Sin embargo, la implementación de regulaciones más estrictas sobre el mercado de fauna no significa necesariamente que después existirá un cumplimiento de las reglas establecidas. Examinamos con un cuestionario en línea la relación entre el cumplimiento auto-reportado y las regulaciones del mercado de marfil de 115 comerciantes de marfil en el Reino Unido y cuatro dimensiones (control, disuasión, legitimidad y normas sociales) que creemos influyen sobre el cumplimiento de las regulaciones de conservación. Aunque la mayoría de los comerciantes respaldó las regulaciones, un gran número no marcó en la encuesta si cumplían con ellas cuando comercializaban con marfil. Los factores principales que influyen sobre el cumplimiento de las regulaciones del mercado de marfil son la aptitud del comerciante para cumplir y las percepciones que tiene de las regulaciones y los castigos para disuadir el comercio ilegal. Estos resultados demuestran la utilidad de la criminología de la conservación para mejorar las regulaciones del comercio de fauna e identificar las oportunidades para reducir la entrada de marfil ilegal al mercado del Reino Unido. El cumplimiento de las regulaciones podría incrementarse por medio de regulaciones más claras que faciliten la detección de productos ilegales de marfil y seguimiento más fuerte de las violaciones.全球范围内对象牙的需求导致了对非洲象 (Loxondonta africana) 的非法偷猎及其种群数量的显著下降。为减缓这一趋势, 《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约 (CITES) 》建议允许在国内合法交易象牙的国家关闭国内的象牙商业贸易市场。然而, 对野生动植物贸易执行了更严格的法规也并不一定意味着法规会得到遵守。我们通过在线问卷调查, 分析了英国一百一十五名象牙贸易商自我报告的对象牙贸易法规的遵守情况与被认为会影响对保护法规遵守情况的四个维度 (控制、威慑、合法性和社会规范) 之间的关系。研究发现, 虽然大多数贸易商都声称支持这些法规, 但许多人在交易含有象牙的商品时, 并不总是检查自己是否遵守了这些法规。影响象牙贸易法规遵守情况的主要因素是贸易商遵守法规的能力, 以及他们对防止非法贸易的法规和惩罚措施的认识程度。我们的研究结果表明, 保护犯罪学的应用有助于改进野生动植物贸易法规、找到减少非法象牙制品进入英国市场的机会。制定更明确的法规有助于更好地发现非法象牙制品、更有效地起诉违规行为, 从而促进对法规的遵守。【翻译: 胡怡思; 审校: 聂永刚】.

Genotyping ivory samples can determine the geographic origin of poached ivory as well as the legality of ivory being sold in ivory markets. We conducted a series of experiments to determine where the DNA is most concentrated in ivory samples and how best to increase DNA yield from groups of samples likely to vary in DNA concentration. We examined variation in DNA amplification success from: the layer(s) of the tusk (cementum and/or dentine) being extracted, demineralization temperature and time, and the concentration of eluates. Since demineralization of the pulverized sample produces a pellet and supernatant, we also assessed DNA amplification success from the pellet, the supernatant, their combination, as well as variation in the respective amounts used for extraction. Our results show that the outer cementum layer of the tusk contains the highest concentration of DNA and should be separated and used exclusively as the source material of ivory processed for extraction, when available. Utilizing the combined demineralized lysate improves extraction efficiency, as does increasing demineralization time to 3 or more days, conducted at 4°C. The most significant improvements occurred for low template DNA ivory samples followed by medium quality samples. Amplification success of high quality samples was not affected by these changes. Application of this optimized method to 3068 ivory samples resulted in 81.2% of samples being confirmed for both alleles at a minimum of 10 out of 16 microsatellite loci, which is our threshold for inclusion in DNA assignment analyses.

The age determination of elephant ivory provides necessary and crucial information for all criminal prosecution authorities enforcing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The knowledge of the age of ivory allows to distinguish between pre-convention, hence legal material and ivory deriving from recent, illegal poaching incidents. The commonly applied method to determine the age of ivory is radiocarbon dating in the form of bomb pulse dating, which however will fade out soon. This work provides an enhancement of the radiocarbon dating method by supplementary determination of the isotope profile of 90-Sr and the two thorium isotopes 228-Th and 232-Th. This combined analysis allows for a precise and unambiguous age determination of ivory. We provided calibration curves for all involved radionuclides by analyzing ivory samples with known age and investigated a new method for the extraction of strontium from ivory.

The date of 31 January 2018 marked the adoption in Hong Kong of a three-phased law banning trading in elephant ivory that will come into full effect on 31 December 2021. This follows the decision of mainland China outlawing this practice from 31 December 2017. These new ordinances, which derive from an international convention (CITES), are particularly adapted to these places as they represent (with Japan) the world’s principal destination of ivory, both legal and illegal, and have done so since the 1950s. This trade, and especially its illegal strand, threatens the survival of Africa’s elephants, whose ivory is regarded as precious. In Hong Kong, the movement of ivory is regularly in the news. July 2017 recorded the largest seizure of illegal ivory in the past 30 years (7.2tonnes). Early 2018 was also noteworthy on account of two events: on the one hand, the resignation of a member of the governmental consultative committee on endangered species (who is also an ivory trader), who had been selling illegal ivory, thus lending a whiff a scandal to the legislative process; and on the other hand, the killing in Nairobi of Esmond Bradley Martin, one of the leading experts on the trafficking of ivory. These national and international events, together with scientific studies and various other reports, have been part of the context of legislative reform in Hong Kong. They are an indication of the complex nature of the issues involved, as can be seen in the stormy legislative debates brought about by competing interests. Quite a number of local newspaper articles (in English and Chinese alike), as well as the (English-language) press in mainland China,have covered this reform by exposing the tensions, divergent points of view, and arguments of the protagonists. It might still appear, however, that there has been little discussion of certain points. The present article will highlight, through an analysis of the media’s treatment of the legislative reform process in Hong Kong, the political issues at stake in this ban, and in particular the grey areas of the public debate. It tries to break with the dichotomy “for” or “against” that are often typical of debates on the extinction of these emblematic mammals. In this press review I undertake a detailed analysis of local newspaper articles, essentially those of the English-language press. Of the 41 articles examined, I selected 21 on the basis of their relevance to legislative reform in Hong Kong and the diversity of their content. Two articles from the Chinese-language local press (selected from 28 articles), as well as six articles from the mainland’s English-language press (selected from 47 articles) serve to underscore this analysis. These articles were published between 2015 and July 2018, that is, from the announcement of the reform until its initial implementation. This article will refer to the timeline of the reform with respect to several key moments and questions that require particular attention.

Summary Harvesting of wild populations can cause the evolution of morphological, behavioral, and life history traits that may compromise natural or sexual selection. Despite the vulnerability of large mammals to rapid population decline from harvesting, the evolutionary effects of harvesting on mega-fauna have received limited attention. In elephants, illegal ivory harvesting disproportionately affects older age classes and males because they carry large tusks, but its' effects on tusk size for age or tusk size for stature are less understood. We tested whether severe historical elephant harvests eliminated large tuskers among survivors and whether elephants born thereafter had smaller tusks. Adjusting for the influence of shoulder height – a metric strongly correlated with body size and age and often used as a proxy for age – we compared tusk size for elephants sampled in 1966–1968, prior to severe ivory harvesting in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with tusk size of survivors and elephants born during population recovery in the mid-1990s. In a regional population, tusk length declined by ˜21% in male and by ˜27% in female elephants born during population recovery, while tusk length declined by 22% in males and 37% in females among survivors. Tusk circumference at lip declined by 5% in males but not in females born during population recovery, whereas tusk circumference reduced by 8% in male and by 11% in female survivors. In a single subpopulation, mean tusk length at mean basal tusk circumference declined by 12.4% in males and 21% in females. Tusk size varied between elephant social groups. Tusk homogeneity within social groups and the often high genetic similarity within social groups suggest that tusk size may be heritable. Our findings support a hypothesis of selection of large tuskers by poachers as a driver of the decline in tusk size for age proxy and contemporary tusk evolution in African elephants.

Focused on protecting a few The illegal ivory trade threatens the persistence of stable wild elephant populations. The underground and covert nature of poaching makes it difficult to police. Wasser et al. used genetic tools to identify the origins of elephant tusks seized during transit (see the Perspective by Hoelzel). The majority of source animals were part of just a few wild elephant populations in Africa—and just two areas since 2006. Increased focus on enforcement in a few such areas could help interrupt poaching activities and restore wild elephant populations. Science , this issue p. 84 ; see also p. 34

While the devastation of elephants due to the demand for ivory in recent centuries is well known, the use of ivory in earlier times in sub-Saharan Africa as well as the interaction with elephant populations is less well understood. This article considers the use of ivory and the long-term relationship between humans and elephants in one area, Mawogola, in south-western Uganda. Its scope extends from the initial encounters with elephants around 1,000 years ago, including the use of ivory as ornamentation, through the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century engagement of African states with the ivory trade, into colonial times and the end of the elephant in Mawogola in the late 1960s. Humans constructed their relationships with one another in part through the manipulation of ivory and elephants. Consideration is also given to the ecological impact of elephants and to the implications of their demise on the landscape.

Human manipulation on mammoth ivory is widely known from the archaeological record of the Upper Palaeolithic. The ring notching technique to break a tusk can be documented from the Early Aurignacian with continuous traditions in the Gravettian/Pavlovian. Experiments with rotten and fresh elephant ivory highlight for many Palaeolithic objects the analogy to breakage patterns in a significant decomposition process. The use of rotten ivory is especially evident in several Upper Palaeolithic art objects. These ivory plates, showing a concave inner surface caused by rotting, were the raw material for several Aurignacian figurines from the Swabian Alb (Southern Germany) and Gravettian figurines from Southern Moravia. The use of rotten ivory in a “carve and splinter technique” will be discussed for the lion man from Hohlenstein-Stadel. Strategies of deliberate maceration can reduce working costs. Procurement of rotten ivory is conceivable as a chaine operatoire, either starting by killing the animal and caching of the tusks, or harvesting of specific weathered material from the land surface. In particular, the latter behavior gives reason to consider that raw material acquisition as “recycling”.

In 2013, an ivory bowl was discovered in a chalky matrix in the Early Iron Age (Philistine) levels in Area A at Tell es-Safi/Gath. Conservation revealed it to be a shallow vessel with a single lug handle, decorated in the interior and on the base with an incised twelve-petal lotus-rosette surrounded by five concentric circles. Applying an object biography approach, we investigate the history and far-flung socio-cultural connections of the Tell es-Safi/Gath bowl, which is unique within Philistia. Specific reference is made to parallels in the ivory hoard from the Late Bronze/Iron Age transition (c. late twelfth century/early eleventh century bce) palace at Megiddo, Stratum VIIA. It is proposed that the Tell es-Safi/Gath bowl was one of a set manufactured somewhere in Canaan. The vessel became separated from the set, ending up as a foundation offering at this Philistine site.

Poaching of African elephants is threatening the species viability. International non-governmental organizations and media often attribute the basic problem to China’s domestic ivory market. We present quantitative and qualitative information on trends and drivers of the ivory trade in China. Results show that ivory is traded in “white” legally licensed retail outlets, “black” illegal shops and online trade forums, and “gray” live auctions of uncertain legality. White markets are primarily in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The numbers of legal factories and retail outlets increased from 9 and 31 in 2004 to 37 and 145 in 2013. Black markets thrive in online trading platforms, such as Baidu Post Bar. Gray markets auction ivory items surging around 2006, mushrooming after 2009, peaking in 2011, and plummeting over 97% following government intervention. During 2002 to 2011, the ivory auction in China and elephant poaching in Africa are strongly positively correlated. Drivers of the ivory trade are multiple and complex, including Chinese consumers’ motivation stemming from the socially-constructed economic, social, cultural, aesthetic, religious, and medical values of ivory. We highlight China’s intangible cultural heritage preservation, the boom of arts investment, and the auction ban in changing ivory values and influencing markets. We argue that elephant conservation can be more effective if it is based on a more comprehensive and contextual understanding of China’s domestic ivory trade.

Elephant tusks are composed of dentin or ivory, a hierarchical and composite biological material made of mineralized collagen fibers (MCF). The specific arrangement of the MCF is believed to be responsible for the optical and mechanical properties of the tusks. Especially the MCF organization likely contributes to the formation of the bright and dark checkerboard pattern observed on polished sections of tusks (Schreger pattern). Yet, the precise structural origin of this optical motif is still controversial. We hereby address this issue using complementary analytical methods (small and wide angle X-ray scattering, cross-polarized light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy) on elephant ivory samples and show that MCF orientation in ivory varies from the outer to the inner part of the tusk. An external cohesive layer of MCF with fiber direction perpendicular to the tusk axis wraps the mid-dentin region, where the MCF are oriented mainly along the tusk axis and arranged in a plywood-like structure with fiber orientations oscillating in a narrow angular range. This particular oscillating-plywood structure of the MCF and the birefringent properties of the collagen fibers, likely contribute to the emergence of the Schreger pattern, one of the most intriguing macroscopic optical patterns observed in mineralized tissues and of great importance for authentication issues in archeology and forensic sciences. Statement of Significance Elephant tusks are intriguing biological materials as they are composed of dentin (ivory) like teeth but have mineralized collagen fibers (MCF) similarly arranged to the ones of lamellar bones and function as bones or antlers. Here, we showed that ivory has a graded structure with varying MCF orientations and that MCF of the mid-dentin are arranged in plywood like layers with fiber orientations oscillating in a narrow angular range around the tusk axis. This organization of the MCF may contribute to ivory’s mechanical properties and, together with the collagen fibers birefringence properties, strongly relates to its optical properties, i.e. the emergence of a macroscopic checkerboard pattern, well known as the Schreger pattern.

International audience; Macroscopic, periodic, dark and bright patterns are observed on sections of elephant tusk, in the dentin part (ivory). The motifs—also called Schreger pattern—vary depending on the orientation in the tusk: on sections perpendicular to the tusk axis, a checkerboard pattern is present whereas on sections longitudinal to it, alternating stripes are observed. This pattern has been used to identify elephant and mammoth ivory in archeological artifacts and informs on the continuous tissue growth mechanisms of tusk. However, its origin, assumed to be related to the 3D structure of empty microtubules surrounded by the ivory matrix has yet to be characterized unequivocally. Based on 2D observations of the ivory microtubules by means of a variety of imaging techniques of three different planes (transverse, longitudinal and tangential to the tusk axis), we show that the dark areas of the macroscopic pattern are due to tubules oblique to the surface whereas bright areas are related to tubules parallel to it. The different microstructures observed in the three planes as well as the 3D data obtained by SR-μCT analysis allow us to propose a 3D model of the microtubule network with helical tubules phase-shifted in the tangential direction. The phase shift is a combination of a continuous phase shift of π every 1 mm with a stepwise phase shift of π/2 every 500 μm. By using 3D modeling, we show how the 3D helical model better represents the experimental microstructure observed in 2D planes compared to previous models in the literature. This brings new information on the origin of the unique Schreger pattern of elephant ivory, crucial for better understanding how archaeological objects were processed and for opening new routes to rethink how biological materials are built.

We report on the illegal trade in ivory and elephant parts in the Special Development Zone of Mong La, Shan State, Myanmar, on the border with China. Mong La caters exclusively for the Chinese market and is best described as a Chinese enclave in Myanmar. We surveyed the morning market, shops and hotels in February 2006, February 2009 and December 2013–January 2014. Trade in body parts primarily concerned dried elephant skin (4 pieces in 2006, 278 in 2009 and 1238 in 2013–2014), and to a lesser extent molars and bones. We found 3494 pieces of carved ivory (none in 2006, 200 in 2009 and 3294 in 2013–2014) and 49 whole tusks (all in 2013–2014) openly for sale, suggesting Mong La has recently emerged as a significant hub of the ivory trade. The origin of the ivory may constitute a combination of Asian elephant ivory from Myanmar and African ivory imported via China. According to local sources the carving was done by Chinese craftsmen, in Mong La as well as across the border in China, and was largely, if not exclusively, intended for the internal Chinese market. Based on asking prices of the most commonly offered items the retail value of the ivory on display in Mong La during the 2013–2014 survey totals an estimated US$1.2 million. Trade in elephant parts and elephant ivory is illegal in Myanmar and CITES I listing of elephants preclude international trade in them. Mong La is governed largely autonomously by an overlord and policed by an Eastern Shan State army. We urge both the Myanmar and Chinese governments to liaise with the Mong La rulers to curb the trade in ivory (and other high profile species), and recommend that the Myanmar and Chinese CITES authorities come together urgently as to resolve the illicit trade of ivory and elephant parts across their borders.

The initial settlement of the Greater Mapungubwe Landscape by Zhizo ceramic-producing farmers around AD 900 is said to be linked to the large elephant population that the region once supported. Elephant ivory was used in the Indian Ocean trade network to obtain exotic trade goods such as glass beads and cloth. However, there has been no attempt to determine whether the local elephant population was large enough to support such trade endeavours. In this paper, we use an inter-disciplinary approach to establish a projection of the past elephant population and demonstrate that the ivory tonnage in the region, including that which could be recovered from natural carcasses, could have supported trade demand. We also argue that at the time of settlement the same environmental productivity supporting the elephant population provided an ecological system amenable to cultivation and could support domesticated livestock. In addition, the local topography, river networks and community of large mammalian herbivores contributed to the attractiveness of the region from a settlement perspective. We believe that the elephant population was only one component present on the landscape that attracted agriculturalists to settle in the area.

Significance C-14 dating methods can be used to determine the time of death of wildlife products. We evaluate poaching patterns of elephants in Africa by using 14 C to determine lag time between elephant death and recovery of ivory by law enforcement officials. Most ivory in recent seizures has lag times of less than 3 y. Lag times for ivory originating in East Africa are shorter, on average, than the lag times for ivory originating in the Tridom region (Cameroon–Gabon–Congo). The 14 C data show little or no evidence that large-scale ivory shipments contained ivory stockpiled over long time periods. Little, if any, “old” ivory (i.e., >10 y) seems to contribute to large ivory shipments.