Elephants In The Dust

IVORY MARKETS

There are two types of ivory markets: raw ivory markets, which sell full tusks, cut tusks, and worked ivory markets, which sell finished items such as jewellery, figurines, trinkets, signature seal blanks, etc. Worked ivory is traditionally sold in retail crafts or antiques markets, in outlets ranging from expensive antique

stores, through knick-knack shops to hotel boutiques, and on the Internet. Raw ivory markets tend to be less open. It is rare to see tusks displayed in a retail outlet, and they are more often sold by middlemen traders, operating behind closed doors or on the Internet, to end-user craftsmen or factories.

Kinshasa, DRC, has an active illegal ivory industry, with raw and worked ivory commonly smuggled out to other African and intercontinental markets.

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