STABLE ISOTOPES AND IVORY

Ivory has high demand in spite of its uncertain trade status. International trade in ivory has been banned by the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) for almost 20 years, although a "one-time" sale by several South African countries has been approved for later this year. Concern about the origin of this, and other ivory, remain. It is of high concern that ivory obtained illegally from Central Africa will make its way to into the market. On the other hand, mammoth ivory does not fall under CITES regulations and can be traded legally. In this paper I discuss using stable isotopes as a forensics tool to distinguish Central African ivory from these other legal sources.