Editing Ivory (section)

==Availability==
{{main|Ivory trade}}
[[File:Ivory trade.jpg|thumb|upright|Men with elephant tusks, [[Dar es Salaam]], {{circa|1900}}]]

Owing to the rapid decline in the populations of the animals that produce it, the importation and sale of ivory in many countries is banned or severely restricted. In the ten years preceding a decision in 1989 by [[CITES]] to ban international trade in African elephant ivory, the population of African elephants declined from 1.3 million to around 600,000. It was found by investigators from the [[Environmental Investigation Agency]] (EIA) that CITES sales of stockpiles from Singapore and Burundi (270 tonnes and 89.5 tonnes respectively) had created a system that increased the value of ivory on the international market, thus rewarding international smugglers and giving them the ability to control the trade and continue smuggling new ivory.<ref name="To Save"/><ref name="A System"/>

Since the ivory ban, some [[Southern Africa]]n countries have claimed their elephant populations are stable or increasing, and argued that ivory sales would support their conservation efforts. Other African countries oppose this position, stating that renewed ivory trading puts their own elephant populations under greater threat from [[Poaching|poacher]]s reacting to demand. CITES allowed the sale of 49 tonnes of ivory from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana in 1997 to Japan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hsi.org/assets/pdfs/Elephant_Related_Trade_Timeline.pdf|title=HSI Ivory trade timeline|publisher=Hsi.org|access-date=2017-11-03}}</ref><ref>"Living Proof", Dave Currey & Helen Moore, A report by Environmental Investigation Agency Sept 1994</ref>

In 2007, under pressure from the [[International Fund for Animal Welfare]], [[eBay]] banned all international sales of elephant-ivory products. The decision came after several mass slaughters of African elephants, most notably the [[2006 Zakouma elephant slaughter]] in [[Chad]]. The IFAW found that up to 90% of the elephant-ivory transactions on eBay violated their own wildlife policies and could potentially be illegal.<ref>{{Cite web|title=IFAW urge eBay to ban online ivory trade after investigation|url=https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/news/2007/ifaw-urge-ebay-to-ban-online-ivory-trade-after-investigation/|access-date=2021-07-31|website=Antiques Trade Gazette}}</ref> In October 2008, eBay expanded the ban, disallowing any sales of ivory on eBay.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2008-10-20|title=eBay To Institute Global Ban on Ivory Sales|url=https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebay-to-institute-global-ban-on-ivory-sales/|access-date=2021-07-31|website=www.ebayinc.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Jack Guy|title=Elephant ivory still being sold on eBay despite 12-year ban|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/05/business/ebay-ivory-sales-continue-scli-intl/index.html|access-date=2021-07-31|website=CNN|date=5 January 2021 }}</ref>

A more recent sale in 2008 of 108 tonnes from the three countries and South Africa took place to Japan and China.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Economist |title=Campaigners fear for elephants and their own credibility |date=July 2008 |url=http://www.economist.com/node/11751304}}</ref><ref>CITES summary record of Standing Committee 57 2008</ref> The inclusion of China as an "approved" importing country created enormous controversy, despite being supported by CITES, the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] and [[Traffic (conservation programme)|Traffic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.traffic.org/home/2008/10/28/first-ivory-auction-from-southern-africa-takes-place.html|title=Ivory sales|publisher=Traffic|date=2008-10-28|access-date=2017-11-03}}</ref> They argued that China had controls in place and the sale might depress prices. However, the price of ivory in China has skyrocketed.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna37167109|title=Ivory Trade threatens African Elephant|first1=Jason|last1=Strazjuso|first2=Michael|last2=Caesy|first3=William|last3=Foreman|publisher=NBC News|date=2010-05-15|access-date=2022-03-14}}</ref> Some believe this may be due to deliberate price fixing by those who bought the stockpile, echoing the warnings from the Japan Wildlife Conservation Society on price-fixing after sales to Japan in 1997,<ref>{{cite web|title=Elephant poaching? None of our business' Influence of Japanese ivory market on illegal transboundary ivory trade|publisher=Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF)|date=March 2010|url=http://www.jtef.jp/english/graph/reportall.pdf|access-date=2011-12-03|archive-date=2022-05-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516063759/http://www.jtef.jp/english/graph/reportall.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> and monopoly given to traders who bought stockpiles from Burundi and Singapore in the 1980s.

A 2019 peer-reviewed study reported that the rate of African elephant poaching was in decline, with the annual poaching mortality rate peaking at over 10% in 2011 and falling to below 4% by 2017.<ref name="Hauenstein">{{cite journal | doi=10.1038/s41467-019-09993-2 | title=African elephant poaching rates correlate with local poverty, national corruption and global ivory price | year=2019 | last1=Hauenstein | first1=Severin | last2=Kshatriya | first2=Mrigesh | last3=Blanc | first3=Julian | last4=Dormann | first4=Carsten F. | last5=Beale | first5=Colin M. | journal=Nature Communications | volume=10 | issue=1 | page=2242 | pmid=31138804 | pmc=6538616 | bibcode=2019NatCo..10.2242H }}</ref> The study found that the "annual poaching rates in 53 sites strongly correlate with proxies of ivory demand in the main Chinese markets, whereas between-country and between-site variation is strongly associated with indicators of corruption and poverty."<ref name=Hauenstein/> Based on these findings, the study authors recommended action to both reduce demand for ivory in China and other main markets and to decrease corruption and poverty in Africa.<ref name=Hauenstein/>

In 2006, nineteen African countries signed the "Accra Declaration" calling for a total ivory trade ban, and twenty range states attended a meeting in Kenya calling for a 20-year moratorium in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|title=African countries set to lock horns over ivory|date=2007-05-31|url=http://www.bt.com.bn/classification/life/features/2007/05/31/african_countries_set_to_lock_horns_over_ivory|publisher=Bt.com.bn|access-date=2017-11-03|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821125326/http://www.bt.com.bn/classification/life/features/2007/05/31/african_countries_set_to_lock_horns_over_ivory|archive-date=2016-08-21}}</ref>

Methods of obtaining ivory can be divided into:
* Shooting the elephant to take its tusks: this method is of concern here.
* Taking tusks from an elephant which has died of natural causes.
* Taking tusks from an elephant which has had to be put down for another reason, for example, severe [[arthritis]], or if its last [[molar teeth]] are worn out and can no longer chew its food.
* Among working elephants which use their tusks to carry logs, there is a best length for their tusks. In former times in India, often their tusks were cut back to this length (and often the shortened tusks' ends were bound in copper). This periodically freed pieces of ivory for the carving trade.

===Controversy and conservation issues===
The use and [[ivory trade|trade of elephant ivory]] have become controversial because they have contributed to seriously declining elephant populations in many countries. It is estimated that consumption in Great Britain alone in 1831 amounted to the deaths of nearly 4,000 elephants.  In 1975, the [[Asian elephant]] was placed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ([[CITES]]), which prevents international trade between member states of species that are threatened by trade. The [[African elephant]] was placed on Appendix I in January 1990. Since then, some southern African countries have had their populations of elephants "downlisted" to Appendix II, allowing the domestic trade of non-ivory items; there have also been two "one off" sales of ivory stockpiles.<ref name="To Save">"To Save An Elephant" by Allan Thornton & [[Dave Currey (environmentalist)|Dave Currey]], Doubleday 1991 {{ISBN|0-385-40111-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cites.org/gallery/species/mammal/asianelephant.html|title=Asian Elephant|publisher=Cites.org|access-date=2017-11-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/26/AR2007022600932.html|title=Increased Demand for Ivory Threatens Elephant Survival|newspaper=Washington Post|date=2007-02-27|access-date=2017-11-03|first=Marc|last=Kaufman}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3879214|title=Lifting the Ivory Ban Called Premature |publisher=NPR |date=2002-10-31|access-date=2013-06-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/globalmarkets/wildlifetrade/faqs-elephant.html|title=WWF Wildlife Trade – elephant ivory FAQs|publisher=World Wildlife Fund|access-date=2017-11-03}}</ref>

In June 2015, more than a ton of [[confiscation|confiscated]] ivory was [[destruction of ivory|crushed]] in [[New York City]]'s [[Times Square]] by the Wildlife Conservation Society to send a message that the [[illegal trade]] will not be tolerated. The ivory, confiscated in New York and [[Philadelphia]], was sent up a conveyor belt into a rock crusher. The Wildlife Conservation Society has pointed out that the global ivory trade leads to the slaughter of up to 35,000 elephants a year in Africa. In June 2018, Conservative MEPs' Deputy Leader Jacqueline Foster MEP urged the EU to follow the UK's lead and introduce a tougher ivory ban across Europe.<ref>{{cite news |author=Foster |first1=Jacqueline |last2=McClarkin |first2=Emma |last3=Flack |first3=John |date=18 July 2018 |title=Foster, McClarkin, Flack: "4 things we've done to improve animal welfare" |url=http://conservativeeurope.com/news/4-things-we-ve-done-to-improve-animal-welfare |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802132008/http://conservativeeurope.com/news/4-things-we-ve-done-to-improve-animal-welfare |archive-date=2 August 2018 |access-date=2 August 2018 |work=Conservatives in the European Parliament}}</ref>

China was the biggest market for poached ivory but announced they would phase out the legal domestic manufacture and sale of ivory products in May 2015. In September of the same year, China and the U.S. announced they would "enact a nearly complete ban on the import and export of ivory."<ref>{{cite news|author=Ryan, F.|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/26/china-and-us-agree-on-ivory-ban-in-bid-to-end-illegal-trade-globally|title=China and US agree on ivory ban in bid to end illegal trade globally|date=26 September 2015|access-date=2 November 2017|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> The Chinese market has a high degree of influence on the elephant population.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/09/elephants-on-the-path-to-extinction-the-facts-chinese-language|title=事实上，大象已经濒临灭绝|trans-title=Elephants on the Path of Extinction: The facts|website=[[The Guardian]]|language=zh|date=8 September 2016|access-date=3 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/09/why-the-guardian-is-publishing-its-elephant-reporting-in-Chinese|author=Isabel Hilton|title=Why the Guardian is publishing its elephant reporting in Chinese|website=The Guardian|date=9 September 2016|access-date=3 November 2017}}</ref>

===Alternatives===
====Fossil mammoth tusks====
Trade in the ivory from the tusks of dead [[woolly mammoth]]s frozen in the [[tundra]] has occurred for 300 years and continues to be legal{{Where|date=June 2024}}. Mammoth ivory is used today to make handcrafted knives and similar implements. Mammoth ivory is rare and costly because mammoths have been extinct for millennia, and scientists are hesitant to sell museum-worthy specimens in pieces.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/world/europe/25iht-mammoth.4.11415717.html|title=Trade in mammoth ivory, helped by global thaw, flourishes in Russia|newspaper=New York Times|date=2008-03-25|access-date=2017-11-03|first=Andrew E.|last=Kramer}}</ref> Some estimates suggest that 10 or more million mammoths are still buried in Siberia.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mammoths: giants of the ice age |last1=Lister|first1=Adrian|first2=Paul G.|last2=Bahn|year=2007|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-25319-3}}</ref>

====Fossil walrus ivory====
Fossil [[walrus ivory]] from animals that died before 1972 is legal to buy and sell in the United States, unlike many other types of ivory.<ref>{{citation|title=Walrus ivory dos and don'ts|publisher=US Fish and Wildlife Service|type=pamphlet|url=https://www.fws.gov/alaska/fisheries/mmm/mtrp/pdf/factsheets/walrus_ivory_do_dont.pdf|access-date=2017-06-19|archive-date=2017-05-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170526210032/https://www.fws.gov/alaska/fisheries/mmm/mtrp/pdf/factsheets/walrus_ivory_do_dont.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Elk Ivory ====
The ancestors of elk had teeth, also known as elk ivory, that protruded outwards, similar to animals that have tusks. These served as protection from predators, and for asserting dominance during the mating season. These elk once had much smaller antlers compared to the size of modern day species’ antlers. Elk antlers evolved to become bigger and the use of their tusks diminished as antlers grew, thus evolving towards a smaller size over time, making them nothing more than teeth in their mouths.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top 5 Fascinating Facts About Elk You Probably Didn't Know |url=https://www.beckandbulow.com/blogs/elk-meat/facts-about-elk |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Beck & Bulow |language=en}}</ref>

These teeth have the same chemical compound as the ivory found in the highly used and poached elephant tusks,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ten Things That Might Surprise You About Elk |url=https://www.nationalforests.org/blog/ten-things-that-might-surprise-your-about-elk |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=www.nationalforests.org |language=en}}</ref> making it another good alternative when it comes to taking ivory as the teeth can be possibly removed without harming the elk themselves.

Among [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] and [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] in elk range, primarily within the [[Great Plains]], [[Rocky Mountains]], and [[Pacific Northwest]], elk teeth has major significance when it comes to jewelry. Among women, men wore them as well. Either through bracelets, earrings, and chokers, there was deeper meaning for both men and women within the tribes. For the women, it was believed that it would bring in good luck and good health. As for the men, it was seen that they were a good hunter.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Horowitz |first=Ellen |date=September–October 2012 |title=Rocky Mountain Ivory |url=https://fwp.mt.gov/binaries/content/assets/fwp/montana-outdoors/2012/ivories.pdf |magazine=Montana Outdoors |pages=16–19}}</ref>

====Synthetic ivory====
Ivory can also be produced synthetically.<ref name="mdpi.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://phys.org/news/2018-01-lab-grown-horns-tusks-poachingor.html|title=Lab-grown horns and tusks could stop poaching—or not|website=phys.org|date=24 January 2018|access-date=19 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Bio-Inspired Synthetic Ivory as a Sustainable Material for Piano Keys|journal=Sustainability|publisher=Cornwell University|date=13 December 2019|doi=10.3390/su11236538|arxiv=1912.06481|doi-access=free|last1=Fischer|first1=Dieter|last2=Parks|first2=Sarah|last3=Mannhart|first3=Jochen|volume=11|issue=23|page=6538}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/faking-elephant-ivory-180963226/|title=Appalled by the Illegal Trade in Elephant Ivory, a Biologist Decided to Make His Own|publisher=Smithsonian Magazine|date=10 May 2017|access-date=19 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Synthetic ivory fails to stop illegal trade|journal=Nature|date=5 March 2014|doi=10.1038/507040a |last1=Zhou |first1=Zhao-Min |volume=507 |issue=7490 |page=40 |pmid=24598629 |s2cid=12301652 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

====Nuts====
A species of hard nut is gaining popularity as a replacement for ivory, although its size limits its usability. It is sometimes called [[vegetable ivory]], or tagua, and is the [[seed]] [[endosperm]] of the [[ivory nut palm]] commonly found in coastal [[rainforest]]s of [[Ecuador]], [[Peru]] and [[Colombia]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/04/26/vegivory/index.html|author=Lara Farrar|agency=CNN|title=Could plant ivory save elephants?|date=2005-04-26|access-date=2017-11-03}}</ref>