Mammoth tusks may fuel ivory trade

Woolly mammoths could become a “protected species” 4,000 years after extinction, in a bid to protect modern-day elephants. As Siberia’s permafrost melts it is feared poachers are using the tusks of long- buried mammoths to disguise the illegal sale of elephant ivory

Historic range of woolly mammoth

Up to 150 million mammoths may lie beneath tundra

Nearly 90% of mammoth ivory legally exported from Siberia – mestimated at around 70 tonnes
a year – ends up in China. Over 50% of ivory on sale in China thought to come from mammoths

Poachers kill more than 30,000 elephants a year – equivalent to more than 100 tonnes of African ivory – to satisfy demand in Asia

RUSSIAN MAMMOTH IVORY EXPORTS (Tonnes)

100 80 60 40 20 0

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

1990: International trade in elephant ivory banned

Woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius)

Israel to propose curbs on trade in woolly mammoth tusks at Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) meeting in Johannesburg, Sep 24-Oct 5, 2016

Sources: CITES, WWF, The Ivory Dynasty: A report on the soaring demand for elephant and mammoth ivory in southern China. By Esmond Martin and Lucy Vigne

Picture: Flying Puffin