Ivory: an old obsession in a market that shifts
- Editorial Team SDG15
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
The story of ivory is the story of an obsession. And, as with all ancient obsessions, the market does not vanish: it mutates, relocates, digitises. Today, despite stronger laws and sharper forensic tools, illegal ivory trafficking remains a transnational business tempting criminal networks where governance is fragile and demand, though reduced, has not disappeared.
On the ground, the barometer for gauging poaching is PIKE, the index that measures the proportion of elephants found dead that were illegally killed. Born from CITES’ MIKE programme, designed to monitor trends and guide policy, it peaked in the 2010s and later declined. Yet the inclusion of data from 2023 and 2024 warns against complacency: a sustained PIKE above population growth thresholds means demographic decline.
Biology offers no cause for triumphalism. In 2021, the IUCN separated Africa’s elephants: the forest species listed as “Critically Endangered”, the savanna elephant as “Endangered”. The assessment reflected decades of poaching and habitat loss, a reminder that the survival of these keystone species is far from assured.
Market dynamics show a different picture. China’s ban on domestic ivory trade in December 2017 was a turning point, pushing prices down and making purchases socially less acceptable. Surveys show uneven awareness among consumers, yet demand has been dampened. The European Union tightened restrictions further in 2022, but an IFAW investigation in 2024 revealed ivory still available online despite regulations. The United Kingdom, through its Ivory Act (effective 2022), extended the ban in January 2025 to other species with ivory-like materials, sending a strong political and penal signal.
On the supply side, seizures reveal both decline and adaptation. The Wildlife Justice Commission notes a sharp fall in large ivory shipments after 2020, though 193 tonnes were seized in the last decade. C4ADS analysis of seizures between 2016–2023 confirms that traffickers share routes and methods with rhino horn smuggling and are now rebalancing in the post-pandemic landscape.
Science has become the most potent weapon against opacity. Samuel K. Wasser and his team pioneered DNA tracing of tusks, linking seizures and pinpointing poaching hotspots. Handwriting analysis on tusks, even through artificial intelligence, adds a low-cost forensic layer. Tradition and technology converge to strengthen cases in court.
Comparisons matter. Between 2010 and 2012, around 100,000 elephants were poached in Africa. Continental numbers now stand near 415,000, with pockets of recovery where protections hold. Poaching levels have fallen since the early 2010s peak, yet the years 2015–2019 saw record-breaking seizures, followed by a post-2020 decline driven by market closures and logistical disruption. The risk is not past; it is the temptation of resurgence.
Who leads this fight? Multilateral frameworks such as CITES provide the backbone, while NGOs like TRAFFIC, WWF, IFAW, EIA, C4ADS, and the Wildlife Justice Commission monitor markets, uncover networks, and push for enforcement. On the ground, figures like Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu, with her “Hands Off Our Elephants” campaign, have spearheaded public pressure and political action, symbolised by Kenya’s burning of its ivory stockpile in 2016.
The regulatory landscape is tightening, but effectiveness lies in enforcement. The EU faces the challenge of shutting down the online market; China must sustain vigilance against shifting smuggling routes in Southeast Asia; the UK provides a model by widening its ban. Rules matter, but only as much as the inspections that enforce them.
What next? First, do not mistake declining seizures for victory. Traffickers are resilient. Second, hit where it hurts: ports, containers, risk profiling, traceability, and cross-border judicial cooperation. Third, demand accountability from digital platforms. And fourth, protect elephant landscapes, for without habitat, survival falters even without the gun.
This is, in short, an ancient battle in a modern arena. History teaches us illicit markets rarely die; they transform when the law persists, demand wanes, and enforcement sharpens. For ivory, the verdict of ethics is clear. The question is whether law, science, and cooperation can finally align to match it.
More information and sources:
· CITES: https://cites.org/eng
· TRAFFIC: https://www.traffic.org/
· IFAW: https://www.ifaw.org/
· Wildlife Justice Commission: https://wildlifejustice.org/
· WildlifeDirect: https://www.wildlifedirect.org/