Is Michelle Obama Fueling the Ivory Trade?

Over 20 years ago, the international community tried to regulate the ivory trade. It failed miserably — an estimated 90 percent of ivory on the market was from poached elephants. To save elephants from extinction, an international ivory trade ban went into effect.

So, what's that smooth, tusk-colored jewelry that Michelle Obama has been sporting lately? Woolly mammoth ivory, being dug up in Russia and sold around the world as an "ethical, guilt-free" alternative.

As warmer temperatures melt the Russian tundra and expose more and more mammoths, the debate over their ivory is heating up. In a research paper published in Pachyderm, the journal by experts from the International Union for the Conservation, it was acknowledged that woolly mammoth ivory could reduce demand for elephant ivory. But they also raised the concern that the two types of ivory could be used to fool the market and wildlife trade officials; with mammoth ivory bringing in more cash than elephant tusks, it's a pretty good incentive for poachers to disguise their product to get a piece of the market.

And the market is very easily fooled. There are already mammoth-sized loopholes in the ivory trade ban. It's legal to import and sell antique elephant ivory; sometimes documentation is required, sometimes not. There was also a surge of legally traded ivory after a stockpile of confiscated tusks was sold under the United Nations' auspices in 2008. Following the big sale, the illegal ivory trade saw its first spike in years.

Conservationists agree that the sale of legal ivory only serves to whet the appetite of the black market. How can you tell if the ivory carving or jewelry for sale is from a legal or antique tusk?  And who is going to verify it — understaffed wildlife officials, dealers who are more than willing to forge documents, or websites where the products are sold? The National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Testing Laboratory in the U.S. has a hard time, even with their advanced technology, telling the difference between ivory from various elephants ... or from a mammoth.

Right now, India is the only country that bans the import of mammoth ivory. While the authors of the Pachyderm paper said a ban isn't necessary yet, they were clear that the primary markets of China and Hong Kong should be monitored. Considering how unsuccessful efforts have been to keep tabs on the illegal wildlife trade in Asia, it seems like we're just giving poachers a head start.

Woolly mammoths are long past the point of worrying about poachers, but elephants are not. "As more mammoth's tusks are unearthed, many more products will be developed to use ivory, greatly expanding the market, thus demand." The National Wildlife Humane Society wrote on their Facebook page. "With mammoth ivory selling at a much greater price than elephant ivory, the concept of "helping protect elephants" is ludicrous. Killing [elephants] for ivory, then forging paperwork into mammoth ivory to get a better price, puts elephants into much greater risk."

Michelle Obama should be using her influence to protect endangered species, not put them at risk with her fashion choices. Ask the First Lady to stop supporting the ivory trade.

Photo credit: Defense.gov