Ivory

1. Hankos (5)

1.1. The making of Hankos is currently among the most common uses of ivory.

1.2. A hanko is typically a cylinder with a persons personal signature engraved onto one side.

2. Status Symbol (6)

2.1. Ivory became an important status symbol among the new middle class in the industrial countries of the Far East such as China and Japan

3. Religious Uses (7)

3.1. “Although the world has found substitutes for every one of ivory’s practical uses -- billiard balls, piano keys, brush handles -- its religious use is frozen in amber, and its role as a political symbol persists”(Ivory Worship

3.1.1. Because this is about faith, and because faith requires suspension of disbelief, ivory traded for religious purposes doesn't garner the aggressive scrutiny it might if it were carved into , say, chess pieces. God’s ivory has its own loophole

3.2. Many Thais wear amulets, sometimes dozens, to bring them luck and protect them from harm and black magic

3.3. Many believe that what you invest in devotion to your own icon determines what blessing you will receive in return. So it is not enough to form these statues out of common materials, ivory is the prime choice.

4. CITES (8)

4.1. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments.

4.2. CITES has made noble attempts at understanding the complexity of ivory and the systems surrounding it. In the end, most manegment strategies have two goals;

5. Poaching (1)

5.1. Poachers were targeting specific population for intense exploitation, hitting the hard and fast to satisfy the demands of a particular shipment. Another tactic used by poachers to take possesion of ivory is stratigecally taking advantage of the social structures of elephants

6. Corruption (4)

6.1. A ton of seized African ivory disappearded recently from a Thai customs warehouse. Customs officers are believed to have been the culprits

6.2. Customs officers and Coast Guards will sometimes accept bribes if a smuggler gets caught

7. Smuggeling (2)

7.1. The steps taken between killing the elephant for its’ ivory to getting it to the customer are shaded by a very complex and well thought out underground smuggling system

7.2. Also, getting caught smuggling ivory has proven to have some what low risks. Prosecutions of illegal wildlife traffickers are relatively rare

8. Seizures (3)

8.1. Sometimes ivory trafficking routes are ended when shipments are seized by customs officers.

8.2. Seizures have given scientists a lot of information about where poachers are hunting and how many Elephants are dying