The trade in mammoth ivory: its role in the illegal trade in elephant ivory

The mammoth ivory trade is a growing and prominent trade of a wildlife product due to the ever-melting Siberian permafrost and has recently been regularly linked to the elephant ivory trade. The link to the elephant ivory trade has caused conservationists and organisations to pay attention to the trade and led to the proposal of listing the woolly mammoth on CITES Appendix II by Israel at the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES. This proposal has led to further discussion of the mammoth ivory trade during future meeting and eventually the proposal was rejected by CITES parties, however, the commission of a study investigating the effect of mammoth ivory on elephant ivory was of great importance. This study aims to; explore the mammoth ivory trade and its links to the trade in elephant ivory; where is the trade occurring? Is the trade increasing, what regulations are in place? Does the mammoth ivory trade overlap with the elephant ivory trade? What is the price of mammoth ivory and does it have a relationship with elephant ivory prices? Is mammoth ivory promoting the illegal trade and laundering of elephant ivory? To what extent can elephant ivory be sold as mammoth ivory? And, Should the woolly mammoth be listed on CITES Appendix II? These questions are investigated in Chapter 2 by carrying out a systematic evidence review on seven different search engines; Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, Microsoft Academic, World Wide Science, Science and JSTOR, using seven search terms; "Mammoth ivory" AND "trade", "Mammoth" AND "elephant poaching", "Mammoth" AND "illegal trade", "Mammoth ivory" AND "elephant ivory", "Elephant ivory" AND "drivers", "Mammoth" AND "illegal ivory" and "Mammoth ivory" AND "demand". To fill gaps in knowledge left by the systematic evidence review questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were conducted in Chapter 3. After sending a total of 1050 emails to 317 individuals, academics, non-governmental organisations, governmental organisation, and law enforcement officers I received 13 completed questionnaires, 8 partially completed questionnaires and conducted 3 interviews. From both data collection methods there were some key findings. China has become the largest market for mammoth ivory overtaking Hong Kong (SAR) of China, the mammoth ivory trade is rapidly increasing, especially in China where the trade could be considered as big as the elephant ivory trade. There is very little mammoth ivory regulations in the largest market, China, and the regulations that in place for elephant ivory, such as; ID cards for elephant ivory and the domestic closure of the elephant ivory market are increasing the demand for mammoth ivory and facilitating the opportunity of elephant ivory laundering. The price of mammoth ivory is increasing, however, there is little knowledge on the subject and how the price of mammoth ivory is affecting the demand and price of elephant ivory. Finally, the laundering of elephant ivory through the mammoth ivory trade was determined to not be significantly impacting the poaching rates and elephant populations. From the data collected from questionnaires and interviews there was agreement that the woolly mammoth should not be listed on CITES Appendix II. Conservation efforts were recommended to focus mainly on holding discussions with representatives from China and Russia on what legislation can be implemented which will benefit both countries and the trade and stocks of mammoth ivory. This study explores new information on the mammoth ivory trade and has some important findings which help decisions on the regulation of the trade. However, due to the low number of questionnaires completed and interviews conducted, especially from the four largest markets for mammoth ivory should be addressed by CITES by ensuring that a follow up study is conducted. This study should focus on collecting data from the source of the trade and where demand is largest, Russia and China. Moreover, it should investigate the impacts of new legislation in the US, Israel, China, and Hong Kong (SAR) of China on the demand of mammoth and elephant ivory and the relationship between the price of both ivory trades. By doing so, we can gather an even greater understanding of the mammoth ivory trade and its relationship with the elephant ivory trade before any decisions are

made.