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Report Summary
While the UK’s Ivory Act 2018 promises to be an important step towards protecting the world’s wild elephants, large volumes of ivory continue to be sold online both overtly and covertly.
This report examines the scale and scope of the UK’s online ivory market and asks Are Ivory Sellers Lying Through Their Teeth?
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KEY FINDINGS
• In one month in late 2021,1,832 overt and covert listings containing ivory were identified across three online sale websites, with a total estimated value of £1,169,356.18. • Of these listings, 84.9% were overt and 15.1% were covert. The platform which prohibits the selling of ivory (eBay UK) was responsible for 95% of all covert listings. • The material for the covert ivory items was most often mislabelled as ‘bone’. • The ivory-bearing animal species for 66.9% of all listings could not be identified. Of the remaining discernible items, 19% were from non-elephant species. • Although ivory from non-elephant sources forms a minority of the market, there is already an indication that demand for non-elephant ivory is increasing in response to the pending implementation of the Ivory Act 2018.
KEY MESSAGES
Delays in implementing the Ivory Act 2018 have impeded the hoped-for dampening impact on domestic trade and have perpetuated the demand for ivory. In its current form, the Act does not prohibit trade in ivory from non-elephant species, such as hippopotamuses and walruses. Distinguishing the species of origin from online images of ivory items is very difficult in most cases. The legal trade in non-elephant ivory risks enabling elephant ivory to be covertly listed under the guise of a permitted species and may also put pressure on the wild populations of non-elephant species.
Once the Act is implemented, authorities need to ensure any continuing online ivory trade strictly complies with the Act’s limited exemptions and any covert listings are identified and removed.
International wildlife charity Born Free calls on the UK government to ensure the better protection of both elephants and non-elephant species by extending prohibitions to non-elephant ivory.
