The close similarities between the tusks of mammoths and elephants present new threats to several wildlife species and the environment, suggests a new study by the University of Portsmouth. <\/p>
In 2018, a UK-wide ban on the sale of ivory<\/a> came into force. However, a new study by the University of Portsmouth<\/a> says there\u2019s evidence traders are trying to sustain the illegal ivory market with the excavation and sale of mammoth<\/a> tusks \u2013 known as \u2018ice ivory\u2019.<\/p> Mammoths fall outside of the parameters of the\u00a0Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora<\/a> (CITES), an agreement set up to protect animal and plant species.<\/p> \u201cThere\u2019s evidence traders are trying to sustain the illegal ivory market with mammoth tusks, by intentionally mislabelling ice ivory as elephant ivory,\u201d said Dr Caroline Cox, lead researcher in the University of Portsmouth\u2019s\u00a0Ivory Project<\/a>.<\/p> Some conservationists are concerned that the mislabelling of mammoth ivory may result in an increase in the laundering of illicit elephant<\/a> ivory.<\/p> According to Luke Hauser, co-investigator on the study, mammoth and elephant tusks are almost identical, which makes it difficult to police the ivory trade: \u201cThe first mammoths appeared in Africa around five million years ago, and radiated into at least ten species; all originating from the same family of modern elephants, known as Elephantidae<\/em>.”<\/p> One question explored in the study was whether it is possible to identify which species a piece of\u00a0ivory\u00a0comes from.<\/p> Dr Cox added: \u201cThe reason this may be important is when Israel petitioned for the woolly mammoth species to be added to the CITES list, it was very specific. We know the majority of the\u00a0ivory\u00a0coming out of Siberia is woolly mammoth, but because evolution<\/a> is a slow process there would have been crossovers between their characteristics and their predecessors.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cSo hypothetically, a trader could have a document claiming a tusk is from a steppe mammoth \u2013 when in fact it\u2019s actually a woolly mammoth \u2013 and we wouldn\u2019t be able to argue otherwise without an expensive and lengthy DNA test.\u201d<\/p>