Elephants who sell hard white materials from elephant ivory are often killed, but are illegal. However, selling ivory collected from extinct mammoth ruins is not in any way. The two are difficult to separate, so illegal traders are sliding under the radar by mixing elephant ivory with legally traded mammoth ivory. But new forensic tools may soon put an end to this creepy trick.
Chinese wildlife forensic scientists suggest that authorities can distinguish elephant ivory from giant ivory Stable isotopes (form of elements that do not decompose over time). If this approach is widely adopted, it could serve as a rapid sample screening before applying more expensive and time-consuming methods.
“Mammoth ivory costs a portion of the price of elephant ivory, but the two are considered completely different materials by sculptors and experts, because mammoth ivory usually lacks the deep, creamy white colour of elephant ivory.” Frontiersaid on the frontier statement. “One trader compared them to ‘Lamborghini and Ford’. Mammoth ivory is not a real alternative to elephant ivory, but its value may lie in providing a legal cover for elephant ivory. ”
Currently, the most accurate way to highlight two ivory is through molecular analysis (molecular studies) or radiocarbon dating (current methods of organic materials), both of which are expensive and time-consuming.
Isotope ratios vary depending on factors such as the environment. The glacial mammoths, preserved in the permafrost of Siberia in high spirits, lived in a completely different habitat than today’s tropical elephants, so the isotopic ratios of their tusks should be different. Within this context, Tropov and his team decided to investigate whether analyzing these differences could provide a better way to distinguish between two ivory types.
The team conducted stable isotopic analysis on 44 elephant ivory and 35 mammoth ivory, specifically studying the stable isotopic ratios of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur. This approach revealed a prominent overlap for the sulfur isotopic ratio between carbon, nitrogen, and two ivory, but researchers documented the mammoth isotopic ratios for elephant and mammoth isotopic ratios, and for hydrogen, they were able to record the mammoth isotopic ratios.
“This is because elements of water drunk by mammoths in high-light areas such as Siberia have different isotopic signatures compared to elements of water ingested by elephants at tropical latitudes,” explained Maria Santos, a researcher at Hong Kong University. Simply put, analyzing the stable isotopic ratios of oxygen and hydrogen in questionable ivory objects is an effective way to determine whether they come from elephants and mammoths.
Although further research is needed before this approach is used in court, Santos added, “I hope that the protocol described in our study will be applied to screen large batches of mammoth ivory objects, perhaps,” he said. “Samples with isotopic signatures of elephant ivory can be tested in more expensive and time-consuming ways, such as radiocarbon dating. This will help you fight illegal ivory trade more effectively and close potential laundry hair removal.”
There is an even easier solution in the way I see it. It’s making all ivory illegal.
