Introduction

1. INTRODUCTION

The African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) and African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) have been recently classified as distinct, endangered and critically endangered species respectively on the IUCN’s Red List (International Union for Conservation of Nature – the world’s largest conservation organisation), with poaching for ivory identified as a major threat to both species (Gobush et al, 2021a; Gobush et al, 2021b). Poaching also threatens the survival of the endangered Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), although there is less data available on the number of these elephants killed for ivory (Williams et al, 2020). Despite the Convention of the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), of which the UK is a prominent signatory, banning the international commercial ivory trade in 1989, elephant populations have continued to decline (eg, Chase et al, 2016; Menon and Tiwari, 2019; Sosnowski et al, 2019; Peez and Zimmermann, 2021) and levels of poaching remain unsustainably high (Lusseau and Lee, 2016; Gobush et al, 2021a; Gobush et al, 2021b).

The most recent seizure report from the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) revealed that more than 42 tonnes of ivory were seized globally in 2019, making it the fourth largest annual tally since 1989 (CITES, 2020). The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) reports the UK plays a significant role in the ivory trade (Lau et al, 2016; DEFRA, 2018), with 1.3 tonnes of ivory being seized at UK ports and airports in less than a month in 2020 (Kaile, 2020). While the proportion of illegally traded ivory seized is unknown and doubtless varies between jurisdictions, it is likely that seizures only represent a relatively small proportion of the total amount of ivory in illegal trade. Although large seizures may demonstrate the efficiency of wildlife law enforcement, they also indicate that the ivory trade remains a real threat to elephant populations, and that ivory continues to be in demand in the UK and the rest of the world. Although some have suggested that a regulated legal market for ivory could reduce poaching (Bandow, 2013; Ganesan et al, 2016), this argument has been widely discredited (eg, Harvey, 2016; Hsiang and Sekar, 2016; Lusseau and Lee, 2016; Aryal, Morley and McLean, 2018; Sehmi, 2019; Wilson-Spath, 2019). It is suggested that to resolve the elephant poaching tragedy, consumer demand needs to be reduced through the introduction of domestic trade bans in jurisdictions where ivory trade continues to pose a threat to elephants (CITES, 2019).

The Ivory Act 2018 (hereafter referred to as the Act) promises to be one of the most rigorous pieces of wildlife conservation legislation in the world, by banning the sale of ivory to, from and within the UK with limited exemptions (Cox, 2021). Although the Act gained Royal Assent in December 2018, at the time of writing the Act still has not been enforced due in part to legal challenges, Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic delaying implementation (Cox, 2021). The Chinese government banned domestic trade in elephant ivory in 2017, along with the introduction of associated penalties, and this led to a decline in elephant ivory demand in a country widely regarded as having the largest consumer market (WWF, 2019; WWF, 2021). The general perception in China is that trading elephant ivory is not worth the risk, as the government is taking this crime seriously (Wildlife Justice Commission, 2021a). Therefore, applying the same logic, the Act will likely reduce demand in the UK if it is enforced efficiently, as robust prosecution of violations is likely to encourage compliance among traders (Harris, Gore and Mills, 2019).

Elephants are the most common source of ivory, but teeth from extinct mammoths (Mammuthus species) and from hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibius), walruses (Odobenus rosmarus), warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus and Phacochoerus aethiopicus), sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), orcas (Orcinus orca) and narwhals (Monodon monoceros) also feature in the ivory market (IFAW, 2004; Baker et al, 2020; IFAW, 2020; Moneron and Drinkwater, 2021). The population trend for extant ivory-bearing species is either unknown or decreasing according to their most recent IUCN Red List assessment (de Jong, Butynski and d’Huart, 2016; de Jong et al, 2016; Lowry, 2016; Lowry, Laidre and Reeves, 2017; Reeves, Pitman and Ford, 2017; Taylor et al, 2019), with the exception of the hippopotamus, whose population trend is described as ‘stable’ in spite of hunting for ivory being identified as a primary threat (Lewison and Pluháček, 2017). Although the trade in non-elephant ivory is widespread and well-established (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2014; Baker et al, 2020), there has been little research into the prevalence of ivory from non-elephant sources in the UK.

In its current form, only elephant-derived ivory is prohibited by the Act, although DEFRA recently called for more information regarding the trade of non-elephant ivory (DEFRA, 2019). There are concerns that limiting the prohibition on domestic commercial trade to elephant ivory in the UK may lead to other ivory-bearing species being unsustainably exploited as a legal substitute (Andersson and Gibson, 2017; Moneron and Drinkwater, 2021), and elephant ivory being covertly listed under the guise of a permitted species. Recent research has revealed that elephant ivory items are sometimes mislabelled as mammoth ivory on Japanese e-commerce websites which prohibit the sale of elephant ivory (Nishino and Kitade, 2020). Banning the trade in mammoth ivory has been suggested as a necessary supplemental measure to an elephant ivory ban (Harvey, 2016).

As very little ivory is traded using the dark web (Harrison, Roberts and Hernandez-Castro, 2016), it is likely the majority of ivory is available on the surface web. The UK ivory trade is most prevalent online, with many ivory items being offered through antique search services (Two Million Tusks, 2017). A popular search service is Barnebys, a website used by a range of auction houses in the UK (Barnebys, n.d.; Lau et al, 2016). Ivory items are also available directly through antique dealers. For a fee, dealers can feature their stock on websites such as Antiques Atlas, which is the UK‘s biggest antiques directory and online catalogue (Antiques Atlas, 2022).

Sellers may also list their ivory items on general online marketplaces, such as eBay. The trade in ivory on eBay is still ongoing despite the company introducing an ivory ban policy in 2009 and joining the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online in 2017 (IFAW, 2012; Hernandez-Castro and Roberts, 2015; Yeo, McCrea and Roberts, 2017; Alfino and Roberts, 2020; Venturini and Roberts, 2020; Wildlife Justice Commission, 2021a). Ivory items are frequently sold on eBay under different code words, with eBay UK having the highest volume of ivory items for sale under these code words compared to France, Italy and Spain (Alfino and Roberts, 2020). Examples of ivory code words are ‘ox bone’ and ‘faux ivory’ (IFAW, 2012; Harrison, Roberts and Hernandez-Castro, 2016). Items which are often made from ivory, such as netsukes (small, carved ornaments) are being covertly sold on this platform using various codenames (Venturini and Roberts, 2020).

Although the majority of ivory available online in the UK appears to have been sourced from elephants, ivory from hippopotamuses, walruses and whales was also identified in a recent study (Parry, 2021). Without physical access to the item, efforts to identify the species the ivory is sourced from are limited to examination of online images for distinctive, species-specific markings. An identification guide for ivory and ivory substitutes was put together by WWF, CITES and TRAFFIC (the wildlife trade monitoring network) which describes the distinctive markings for each ivory-bearing species (Baker et al, 2020).

In short, elephant and mammoth ivory has Schreger lines, which are distinctive cross-hatchings seen in cross sections of the item. Elephant and mammoth ivory can be distinguished as the Schreger lines perpendicular to the cementum on mammoth ivory tend to have angles that are less than 100°, whereas modern elephant Schreger angles, on average, are greater than 100°. Walrus ivory is most easily identified by the presence of secondary dentine. Hippopotamus and warthog ivory can be distinguished in images by the shape of the tusk interstitial zone, if present. Also, both hippopotamus and warthog ivory cross-sections show tightly packed concentric lines, but these are less regular on warthog ivory. Whale ivory cross-sections have prominent concentric rings and species of whales can be distinguished by the shape and size of the tooth.

The aims of this study were to estimate the volume and value of covert and overt ivory available to buy in the UK across three websites over a one-month period. The study also aimed to determine the volume and proportion of ivory from different ivory-bearing species that can be identified from the images.