I just happened to log onto eBay today to see if I could find a nice gold or silver elephant necklace.

Golly, is everyone desperately trying to get rid of their ivory necklaces before eBay bans all sales of ivory.
I reported 24 items just this morning because none of them showed either a US Fish & Wildlife certificate or the person selling stated they were pre-ban and I questioned how anyone would know they were pre-ban or purchased in China yesterday from an elephant killed two weeks ago.

Kipper and I both worked on this last year and Kipper had better success in the UK than I did here in the US.
I can only hope that eBay will take those 24 items off and not allow their sale.

I must also write to US Fish & Wildlife suggesting in the future they require a picture on the certificate they render for "approved" items. One of the big ivory sellers did show a certificate. It showed 2400 pieces of jewely sent from Hong Kong to a jeweler in Hawaii dated 1987!!! Those 2400 pieces could have been sold years ago and the certificate being used now for something that is not approved.

I'll keep watching this. I suspect people will just try to sell it but call it bone, mammoth, warthog tusk or plastic when it is really ivory. I'll report anything that even looks like ivory. I'll drive eBay nuts, but we must do all we can to protect elephants from being slaughtered for a trinket.

Original von Jan
I'll report anything that even looks like ivory. I'll drive eBay nuts, but we must do all we can to protect elephants from being slaughtered for a trinket.

Hehe, this is somehow what the kids in Athens are doing these days. They drive the government nuts with little riots and force a political reaction. It seems to be the only thing the "little man" can do.

Good on ya!!

I am at the moment in San Francisco and have been told that in China Town they are selling Ivory big time.... will want to go over to see what this is about!!!!

Nico:

Try to take some pictures of the ivory and we can send them to the US Fish & Wildlife. They've been pretty good lately catching those illegally importing ivory.

Hope you are having a good time in San Francisco even with all the weather problems the west coast has had. We've had almost two feet of snow this weekend!!!

Can't wait to get back to the warmth and heat of Kenya (and this is just the first day of winter here)!

Did not take my camera but there are lots of shops that sell antiques and Ivory in China town - all very old of course....... I asked where they got this from as if it was very old they had quite a lot of it in every shop - (I must have counted perhaps 10 or so down the main street) and they instantly started getting quite frecky - I think they have had lots of people annoy them on a regular basis
I could not get too pushy as I had my daughter with me - but at least she learns as well what is going on!
Strange that they allow this - ?? I thought that this would be one area in the USA that was quite hard with such rules.

While I understand that the protection of endangered species is a noble endeavor sometimes people can go to far. Take, for example, the banning of mammoth ivory carvings on ebay.

The wooly mammoth has been extinct for nearly 20,000 years, their extinction now believed to have been caused by a meteor hitting the earth. A large cache of mammoth tusks were discovered in Siberia and sold to the Chinese for carving which provided jobs and sustenance to thousands of human families. These people, as well as honest dealers and their families, are the ones being hurt by eBay's ban, not the wooly mammoth. There are no national or international laws restricting the selling and/or shipping of mammoth. Mammoth ivory is distinctly different than elephant ivory in its color, shape and consistency.

In their ingenious manner Chinese carvers have utilized the discarded bones of camels and oxen, mammoth tusk, and hippo tooth to continue their centuries old tradition of carving, further providing jobs and sustenance to the human species.

Again, these people are hurt by your ban, not the endangered elephant. These bone products are distinctly different than elephant ivory in their color, shape and consistency. Keep in mind that mammoth ivory protects living elephants because mammoth is a desirable commodity with similar properties as modern elephant tusks and can legally fulfill the needs of the industry. To ban the sale of mammoth because some unscrupulous dealers may use it to launder the
sale of elephant ivory is unfair because it punishes the innocent. Increase the penalties for the sale of ivory and strictly enforce those laws and leave us law-abiding citizens alone.

I want to close by re-emphasizing three points: (1) that mammoth ivory has in many industries nearly replaced the use of elephant ivory, such as the guitar manufacturing process where ivory is needed, jewelry crafting, pool cues and cue balls, Chinese netsukes and traditional carvings. Just to name a few; (2) if the argument that mammoth and elephant can not be distinguished on a website, then certainly that philosophy should extend to the listing of name brand items and any item that can be counterfeited since one can not distinguish the the real from the fake. Ebay should ignore the seller's history and feedback and not extend trust to anyone for anything. Mammoth ivory unlike a counterfeit Louis Vuitton handbag is not illegal to sell and ebay faces no lawsuits from the fair trade and sale of items derived from mammoth ivory; and (3) some conservation groups believe that the discovery of the mammoth tusk quarries in recent years has been successful in lowering the demand for elephant tusk.

Mammoth ivory has become as desirable as elephant. Consider that in forming your opinions on this matter. thanks http://www.ivoryseeker.com