Ivory trade

The commercial exchange of elephant tusks and ivory products, historically driven by demand for decorative objects and manufactured goods. It has contributed to elephant declines and is now restricted or banned in many places.

Elephant poaching: The illegal killing of elephants, often to obtain their tusks. Poaching supplies much of the illicit ivory entering trade networks.
Ancient ivory trade: The exchange of ivory among ancient societies across Africa, Asia, and the Mediterranean. Ivory commerce long predates the modern wildlife trade.
African bush elephant: The largest living land animal, inhabiting savannas and other open habitats across sub-Saharan Africa. Heavy ivory hunting caused severe population losses across its range.
Ivory substitute: A material used in place of natural ivory for carving, ornament, or manufacture. Substitutes can meet some consumer demand without requiring elephant tusks.
Ivory carving: The shaping and engraving of ivory into objects using cutting and polishing tools. Carving turns raw tusks into high-value goods that sustain demand.
East African ivory trade: The historical export of ivory from East Africa through coastal trading networks. This regional trade connected interior hunting grounds with Indian Ocean markets.
African forest elephant: An elephant species inhabiting the tropical forests of Central and West Africa. Ivory hunting has contributed to major declines in its forest populations.
Vegetable ivory: Hard seed material from certain palms, especially tagua, carved to resemble animal ivory. Its appearance and carving properties made it a natural alternative to tusk ivory.
CITES: An international treaty regulating trade in endangered species and their products. Its appendices and permits govern international trade in elephant ivory.
Scramble for Africa: The late nineteenth-century partition and colonization of Africa by European powers. Colonial rule expanded extraction networks and intensified commercial access to tusks.

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