A mammoth task: halting the ivory trade

Elephants are the poster child for the illegal wildlife trade. It is estimated that on average, 55 African elephants per day are killed for their ivory tusks.

Humans have coveted ivory for thousands of years, and demand eventually pushed elephants to the brink. International trade in their tusks is now banned, but a new product on the global market could be fuelling the flames for elephants: mammoth tusks.

In this episode of Wild Crimes, we'll find out how the trade in the tusks of extinct mammoths is influencing demand for elephant ivory. Are mammoths providing their living relatives with a lifeline, or are their tusks doing more harm than good?

Discover more with Museum Research Leader Prof Adrian Lister, Valery Plotnikov from the Academy of Sciences of Yakutia, trade investigator Lucy Vigne and ivory trade research specialist Linda Chou.

Learn more about mammoths, elephants and the illegal wildlife crime and support the Natural History Museum’s work at nhm.ac.uk/wildcrimes.