Ivory

The quest for ivory has led to the widespread slaughter of elephants, pushing some species to the brink of extinction

Turkish Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Units have successfully uncovered an illegal wildlife trafficking operation in Istanbul's Küçükçekmece district.

When archaeologists first discovered the 5,000-year-old ornate tomb in Spain, they assumed it was for a man. It held a rock crystal dagger, ivory tusks and other lavish items. But now they've determined the remains are those of a woman, and all it took was two teeth.

Archaeologists revealed on Sept. 5 ivory plaques found in a luxurious Jerusalem Iron Age residence, a first-of-its-kind discovery at this location that sheds light on the owner's wealth and social status.

Poachers have killed at least six elephants in a single day in Ethiopia, wildlife officials said on Tuesday, the largest such slaughter in memory in the east African nation.
The elephants died last week, when they ventured out of the Mago National Park in the far south of Ethiopia to drink water, Ganabul Bulmi, the park's chief warden, told reporters.

An unregulated ivory market, expansion of human settlements and issues of governance in many African countries are hitting the population of elephants.

Some 40,000 years ago, a man or a woman, or a group of people, whose names, faces and language we will never know, selected ivory from a mammoth and spent many, many hours in the cold days and long nights of the last ice age in what today is southern Germany, probably next to a fire in a cave, carving a sacred object - an idol which combines the head and shoulders of a lion with the lower body

Britain will ban sales of ivory in a bid to help preserve the world's dwindling elephant population, the government announced April 3.

A world-renowned ivory investigator whose detailed reports contributed to the fight against elephant poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, was killed at his home in Kenya, police said on Feb. 5.

China’s complete ban on ivory trade went into effect on Dec. 31, officials said, a major step forward in Beijing’s efforts to rein in what was once the world’s largest market for illegal ivory.