| There is more worked ivory for sale in the United States than anywhere else in the world, except for China. Large quantities of worked ivory from China are illegally imported to the U.S. by individuals and through the Internet. The U.S. also maintains a largely unregulated ivory crafting industry. | |
Between 1979 and 1989 man's hunt for 'white gold' has caused the death of 600,000 African elephants -half the population of an entire continent. In some parts of Africa and Asia elephant poaching appears to be on the rise yet again.
International ivory trade experts Dr Esmond Martin and Dr Daniel Stiles conducted a series of ivory investigations funded mostly by CWI. Their 2005 report Ivory Markets of Europe, uncovered that, although authenticating paperwork was often missing, European demand for ivory was not the cause behind increased elephant poaching.
|
|  | |
Also in 2005, CWI exposed Sudan as a major new ivory trade hot spot. With the Sudanese military at the centre of a highly organised poaching and trafficking racket, ivory in Sudan originated from the tusks of recently poached elephants in Sudan itself, as well as from East and Central Africa. At least 75% of all worked ivory was bought by Chinese buyers. | |
© CWI |
Ivory trade surveys by Martin and Stiles across Africa and Asia between
1999 and 2003 too had exposed serious problems. Large, unregulated ivory
markets in China and Thailand, for example, used vast amounts of illegal
ivory from Africa. Forest elephants in Central Africa - only recently
recognised a separate species - had been decimated to supply tusks for
ivory workshops and factories in the Far East. Ivory poached in eastern and
southern Africa had been shown to find its way to Asian markets. |
| |
To monitor illegal movements of ivory under CITES, the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) collates government reports of seizures of ivory and other elephant products. ETIS reports its findings to each CITES conference and its data support Martin's and Stiles's findings. In CITES member states, large quantities of confiscated ivory and high numbers of seizures occur mostly in countries with large domestic ivory markets. According to ETIS, the U.S. has by far the largest number of illegal ivory seizures and is considered an 'ivory trade problem country'. However, the nature and scale of the U.S.'s internal ivory market had remained unknown until now.
| |
|
Download the summary or full report - Sponsored by Care for the Wild with contributions from the Humane Society of the United States, Save the Elephants and the John Aspinall Foundation this latest report reveals the U.S. as one of the world's leading ivory markets.
View images
Press Release | |
|
SUMMARY
There have been more recent ivory seizures in the U.S. than in any other country.
There is more worked ivory for sale in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world, bar China.
Large quantities of worked ivory from China are illegally imported into the U.S. by individuals and through the Internet.
The main sources for ivory for craftsmen in the U.S. are items offered on the Internet, estate sales often by auction, and antiques that are broken or unwanted.
While retail ivory sales from shops in the U.S. have declined, internet sales have increased significantly. Internet prices are higher than person-person trading.
Almost one third of the total number of ivory items seen in this survey (7,400) are likely to have been crafted after 1989, making their importation illegal.
New York City had by far the most ivory for sale with 11,376 items, followed by San Francisco (2,777) and Los Angeles (2,605).
The Western US, particularly Honolulu (Hawaii), San Francisco and Low Angeles (California), appears to have more post-1989 worked ivory for sale than the eastern cities.
There are more active ivory craftsmen in the U.S. than in the whole of Europe. Their activities are largely unregulated.
Mislabelled as antiques, mammoth ivory or bone, large quantities of illegal, worked ivory are imported into the U.S. from China.
No official stockpile of raw ivory exists and there has been no government census of private raw ivory stocks in the U.S.
U.S federal and state agencies rarely inspect shops or internet sites for illegal raw or worked ivory.
The U.S legally imported 3,530 tusks and 2,400 raw ivory pieces between 1990 and 2005 according to the UNEP-WCMC CITES Trade Database. This study found evidence that some of the material was illegally sold into the commercial market.
With regard to ivory trade, the U.S. fails to comply with many CITES regulations and its own national laws.ITES regulations and its own national laws.
| |
|
| |
|
|
