Few ways for Indigenous people to earn moneyĮmployment and profit are hard to come by in the far north of Russia, with both Ms Bending and Ms Aleksandra emphasising that mammoth mining brings money to communities who need it. Whole mammoth tusks are very easy to tell apart from elephant tusks, but small pieces are hard to distinguish.Ĭutting large tusks may muddy the water in the ivory market, making it easier to launder elephant ivory.

To get around size limits, tusks may be further cut up or made into beads before export. 'You're potentially making an opportunity for crime to move in, it's an unknown calculus at this point,' she says.

The size regulations were introduced to preserve the tusks' cultural and scientific value.īut it's estimated a third of the mammoth tusk trade is illegal, and the new regulations may push even more of the trade into the shadow economy, Ms Bending says. Under Russian law, tusks need to be accredited as genuine mammoth and not elephant.Īt the beginning of last year, the government banned the export of tusks more than 3 metres long or weighing over 100 kilograms.

Mamoth tichu