Ivory Trafficking

November 30, 2023

Question: How do wildlife officers tell the difference between elephant ivory and other animals that have ivory such as whales or even warthogs?

Answer: In a forensics lab! When Assembly Bill 96 was signed (now Fish and Game Code section 2022), it made the commercialization of ivory and rhinoceros horn illegal in California, with limited exceptions. Passage of AB 96 prompted a number of dedicated wildlife officers, legal staff, and a wildlife forensic specialist to work on issues related to the illegal trade of ivory and rhinoceros horn. The law also created funding to support the creation of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Genetics Research Laboratory.

The laboratory staff are federally certified in the morphological or structural identification of ivory using physical and chemical characteristics. Forensic specialists utilize these techniques to compare against a database of known ivory specimens (tusks and teeth) from ivory-bearing species as well as synthetic ivory items (bones, plastics, resins, etc.) to help identify suspected ivory items.
Since the passing of AB 96, CDFW’s wildlife forensic scientists have become recognized worldwide as experts in ivory identification and even helped to provide training and identification kits for other state, federal and national governments.