Ivory Seized Decades Ago Turns Up In Raids

Confiscated ivory from elephants killed more than 30 years ago has turned up in recent raids, say scientists.

The tusks were once part of a stockpile seized from poachers and held in sealed containers by the government of Burundi.

In this study, researchers used DNA and carbon dating techniques to show that some of that stored material is now in the hands of smugglers.

The government of Burundi has not responded to a BBC request for comment.

The authors say seizures should be destroyed and not stored.

Between 2007 and 2016 some 100,000 elephants were killed for their tusks in different parts of Africa.

The study examined samples from four major seizures made by law enforcement officials between 2017 and 2019.

Using techniques to measure the presence of an isotope called carbon-14, the researchers found that most of the captured ivory was from elephants killed within the previous three years.

However, ivory from one seizure was primarily from elephants killed more than 30 years ago.

Markings on these tusks indicated they came from a supposedly well-guarded stockpile held by the government of Burundi.

The trade in ivory has been banned since 1987 in Burundi, one of the world’s poorest countries. In 2004 scientists from wildlife trade experts, Traffic International, examined the stores which comprised almost 84 tonnes, made up of 15,000 tusks. Customs seals were then affixed to the seven containers holding the ivory.