These Gentle Giants are some of the last of the economy and elephants with tusks this lauch have become bred only a handful remain in africa they protected but theyre not safe from punches to feed an insatiable demand for rivalry. The sharp decline in africas elephant populations is being compounded by human encroaching on their habitat projections say for people moving south of the sahara by centuries and. Move. This report traces the significance of ivory from prehistoric times to the present from the stone age counts in germany to the savannahs of africa to china and to russia where the siberian permafrost contains tusks from an extinct species that could help solve them. Africas elephants. The earliest known artifacts made from woolly mammoth ivory ran earth in the mountains of southwestern germany in 2017 the site of their excavation was added to the list of unesco World Heritage sites under the designation caves an ice age out in the swabian euro. The perforated rock form cheering the earths middle life iraq is brittle with extensive caves out billy ancestors to come residency at the beginning of the paleolithic age some 40000 years ago the limestone caves of the whole of fells hardly unique archaeological treasures they date back to the time when homo sapiens set out to copy of europe. And eclipse connaught has been conducting research here for decades he heads the department of illy prehistory and quaternary ecology at the university of tubing and. All of those all of ls and other excavation site in our region have been incredibly well preserved a lot of weve found bones in ivory and players and bone 2 wars there 40000 years old but look almost as if they were carved yesterday. Apart from artifacts Musical Instruments and jewelry almost 80000 stone tools have been found here. This is a nice sort of sign thing by schnitzler its not like an ivory carving can be done quickly on the contrary it takes many hours life shifts its different to a pencil drawing where theres room for error and here every line you see was deliberately carts and if theres a navel people triangle the delicate fingers slits all are intentional and by no means coincidental says absolutely this is all kind of out so far. To go to the symbols were widespread in europe around 30000 years ago but the one of those famous is much older dated back to more than 40000 years ago. This isnt evidence the mammoths were hunted instead its played out early ancestors harvested ivory from already dead animals. Things havent changed all too much today. Sergei go around like this from russia hes the biggest importer of mammoth ivory in europe making him a modern day entrepreneur who source of income stems from primordial times unlike african ivory to sell of mammoth tusks is totally legal. Theres another new customs regulation thats just incredible. Now the form also asks you to confirm the mammoth ivory is not cat fur or cat hair cuts in the heart of hyundai. It takes time to cut through all the red tape. Thats if. Its late in the evening now and were finally picking up a mammoth task here at the Frankfurt Airport cargo terminal. Cargo which i am in no time for a few crafts will come in which of everything i have to open the crates here. 17 prehistoric tasks prepares for sale by his russian friend nikolai. I made a ban on commercial trade in African Elephant ivory the business with this ice age substitute is booming. And doesnt just audience of stores tasks in the back have all been completely restored stabilized under vacuum and then stabilized again in the pressure chamber. And then polished by hand fake to perfection and poorly at. The International Trade in ivory was banned in 1909 since then its illegal to South African i freely across National Borders but little has changed every year around 30000 elephants are killed for ivory in africa poaching is a profitable business. On the black market i kilos fictious up to 500. 00. Daniel stiles is an american conservationist based in kenya he has spent years researching the transfer science and smuggling routes really glad free and he descent of all goods in africa i transported over land. The controls apache corruption is commonplace between 2007 and last year 28 team. It looks like there has been Something Like. 5000. 131778 kilograms of ivory going out of africa at 200. 00 a kilo thats over a 1000000000. 00. Stone says the assumption that banning on fish sales will stop punching is based on until a simplistic western view point which is an Animal Rights audiology he calls it a new 14 approach that threatens elephants more than a legal trade would. It is generally a western paradigm you might call it is that elephants have Intrinsic Value and because of that that they should not be used commercially the policies that emanate from that actually look very much like neo colonial policies its outsiders dictating to african africans how theyre supposed to manage their elephants and other wildlife. In april 26th in kenya burned 106 tons of confiscated Elephant Tusks and rhinoceros phones following a Campaign Funded by International Donations it was the biggest ever stop pile of ivory critics say the campaign lined the pockets of the ruling elite and that destroying large quantities of such a brick commodity loses its value encouraging more poaching they call it a wifes a precious resources that you could use in a legal history that would take pressure off of elephants having to provide illegal ivory more. Sustainable solutions are needed to protect elephants in the wilderness they live in the on. World war. German businessman wilfried past has a reputation for getting things done hes a passionate conservationist but the approach he advocates is controversial by setting cape town he feels a strong connection decent doctors homeland africa minor past your my passion for the african wilderness dates back to 1965 and my 1st photographic safari with some light hunting in the okavango delta. Thats when it all started dot com to us here the only 990 s. He stumbled on a tract of land in the salvati valley in southern symbolically. Convinced that he and fellow an associate had recommended it to me he said you have always dreamt of building a big animal reserve someday with misbehaving in 50. So weve polluted zimbabwe one morning and had a look and it was love at 1st sight like sango is the largest private reserve in symbolically its partly funded from trophy hunting a controversial practice that he insists prevents poaching. As its an income when we europeans sit in our Conference Rooms or in front of the t. V. Sets and make ourselves out to be the great protectors rhino its a Nature Conservation in africa but its the same time for bit people down here to earn the money they offered us to pursue those goals in their own way. It smacks of neocolonialism. And its arrogant to those at the top think they can dictate whats good for Nature Conservation to those on the ground right invested in nashua. In a sense to get around it is also a Nature Conservationist because it mammoth aubreys used instead of elephant i free then a few elephants have to die in africa to speak against each other by having the documents that show the mammoth ivory was imported into germany and i am afraid to transport it within the European Union utopia show me on buffy justify being today were heading to paris to a gallery slash interior design shop find a job in. The shop in the city center boasts an eclectic collection of expensive decorative objects the pristinely restored tusks of a woolly mammoth fit right in. The fold but the real profits from the trade in mammoth tasks dont come from luxury stalls. He went out to a classic trade fair in nuremberg centers around hunting shooting sports and security its here that surrogate meets his key customers nice make is i didnt cry vince who work with fossil ivory. I love working with artists and im fascinated by what they do. With mammoth ivory and the ways they use it. I also find it fascinating that this material still exists on earth today and that it is so all those people really value that the nation that they have ensured see. Every piece of burma 53. 00 is unique its crafted into handles the hand forged knives made of damascus steel. Most of the worlds mammoth ivory comes from russia. Moscow is the center of the International Trade. Center guy go around the needs to refresh his supplies you follow god were on our way to see probably go hes one of the biggest mammoth ivory traders in russia if not the world and. This store leads to his collection of crystal wright treasures to mammoth skeletons both complete and restored to perfection. Hundreds of tusks apart up on the floor and on the shelves. Their market value is determined by the intactness their length and diameter and the state of the material so whether its cracked and wet or dry the color of the bark is also important. This is influenced by minerals such as blue i know more dissolved in the permafrost sore and deposited over the course of thousands of years in the animal. Than this a very few valium into if it takes a combination of a whole lot of factors to achieve this blue color which is why blue mammoth bark is the most valuable on the market a marked. The tasks are harvested from the permafrost in the most remote parts of siberia north of the Arctic Circle where Climate Change is playing out in dramatic ways temperatures have been rising fields who. In the ice to fool this reveals the remains of woolly mammoths and releases their tusks post of which i found around river banks. A few fair minded fish amid the Constant Movement of the permafrost as it expands and contracts with fluctuating temperatures the buried mammoth pieces and tasks are pushed along a path of least resistance and the path of least resistance is a river which is why you find so many mammoth parts at the river. And flows but that doesnt mean all the mammoths died there stored in there. When it comes to salvaging the treasures preserved in the time drive time is of the essence once the ice flows in the primeval tusks are exposed to air they quickly disintegrate into worthless fragments experts believe more than one 100000000. 00 mammoths could be still hidden in the permafrost if only a fraction of the tasks is preserved it could satisfy demand for ivory from china the worlds biggest ivory consumer for years to come. Will mean. A 2nd ivory warehouse is located some 40 kilometers outside moscow. The fragments of all shapes and sizes the stores here they might look worthless but they can be crafted into a precious commodity it takes an expert on right to tell which pieces have potential nicholai one of russias best ivory graves help select the viable fragments. Of. The pieces assaulted by whites. The Purchase Price is around 300. 00 per kilo. More you. The tasks true glory is still concealed beneath the 200. 00. But it only takes a few minutes work with an angle grinder and buff wheel to lay their potential bear the volume of the mammoth ivory market is hard to estimate it could be as much as 80 tons per he world wide each of surrogate the rounds ivory pieces is clearly identified by photographs catalogue numbers and corresponding certificates while imports into the European Union are documented its unclear how much mammoth ivory is secretly shipped into china from russia. Frankfurt is the 1st airport in viewer to employ sniffer dogs to the detection of illegal ivory. Cost of dogs trying to d. J. Keller has been trying to Police Animals for more than 20 years. Why did this dog is trained to sniff out your techniques besides if he doesnt find anything in the world we always let him find a suitcase thats pretty planted with material so he feels hes done a good job. Public relations director kristin mistrusts is often shocked by what passengers bring back from their travels. This is where we keep confiscated evidence snake wine is a typical souvenir or chameleon wine. This was an empty and hairy armadillo thanks to. The exhibits in this chamber of horrors a just the tip of a huge iceberg. Here my dad has come and its hard to believe but this is an era of an African Elephant. This tusk of a smaller specimen on this planet. And a femur of an African Elephant. In 2017 nearly 13 and a half 1000 violations of the endangered species act one registered in frankfurt on line. Ivory objects frequently pass undetected through luck each screening indeed x. Ray machines are no match for German Shepherd neal is now as. There are no smuggled goods in this sort of luggage but she makes a b. Line for a plant suitcase. Why do use of dogs trying to detect endangered species it International Airports and seaports could help curb the illegal ivory trade significantly. So greg around it has no problem getting through customs his documents are all in a what are. You. And me im ok. Youre right. It was. A portion of his shipment is destined for a card my our alias richie. Richie only works with the finest material. He is a master of scrimshaw an ancient technique of working with ivory. Innuit an 18th century while as with the 1st to decorate bones and wild teeth with this method which in my is credited with reviving scrimshaw his popularity in europe it was here to his folks and me what im doing here is one of the oldest lines of work in the world. Believe me or when im working with this material i feel a magical connection to the mammoth that lives of tens of thousands of years ago thanking us for any pieces for sharing anything and i think thats not so on like how the hunters and shamans felt back when they were engraving and carving pieces for their rituals come here to keep. Cards tablas of mammoth ivory using the finest of needles and pricks similar to a tattoo its worked it requires patience devotion and perseverance up to 7. 100 dots applies to inside one square millimeter up finally the engraving is died we think its your fault i often sit here at the microscope for 10 hours or longer work with staring at an enlargement of a couple of square centimeters i really become one with the task my mind kind of melts into the whole structure of its for its glance its all in Something Like in the save. The endangered species act bans any use of african ivory mammoth ivory is the perfect substitute even in great it can be easily distinguished from african ive read through its characteristic passion of course shrink the lines. Into it it must see it here that you see these crosshatching you only get those in fossilized mammoth material what. That means it cant be mistaken for elephant ivory 40000 years lie between richie myers work and stone age ivory figurines but the material used for both has maintained its appeal. To greed for ivory has driven africas elephants into retreat. Even the solve a valley in southern sudan is void of elephants they have been forced to make by for a giant cattle farm. Its here on 600 square kilometers of land that really parts lives his wild life trains i mean over to the west from the hill were standing on for the land runs about another 45 kilometers upstream. And over to the east it continues on for 27 kilometers all the way over to the saab a river but some sandwiches also still on the property and as i did. From the moment he sort of hilly parts could sense this trains potential he was eager to return it to its natural state he rolled up his sleeve. Eaves Found International investors and spent a significant amount of his own fortune on the project. Wild animals of all with disappeared from the terrain when village pups took it over he consulted biologists david goosen an experienced park ranger and relocated a variety of animals from neighboring mozambique to his reserve he says his is a sustainable operation because it benefits local communities revenues from eco to resume in hunting finance as parts named his game reserve. He would also like to sell his stockpile of ivory harvested from elephants that died of Natural Causes and beliefs he should be allowed to sell it. Became a fact with about 400000 animals elephants are not really an endangered species although i too find the population decline from a 1000000 2400000 elephants hard to bear. But you have to differentiate where it happened and why it happened it doesnt go home for example he stopped sustainable use in 1937 when it had over 160000 elephants 6 titles 12 years later only 17000 were left in the senate means 90 percent were wiped out in 12 years because the animals had not only lost their value to the local population but were also threatening their meager agricultural yields thats wrong and completely different to our situation. Within the space of 20 years pops to achieve something few before he managed a revival of the wilderness somehow today is home to numerous packs of extremely rare african wild dogs thousands of antelopes. Nearly 100 lions. And about 900. 00 elephants. The success is impressive but it is both a blessing and a curse and the Animal Problem we face in the world this human and just because were trying to put animals into certain areas animals know when theyre all impacting on the environment and thats a natural instinct. But now theres no way to move because all these big world in a serious are surrounded by people and the animals if play moves they get killed and if they stay like 3 too much on the wall than us and so its a vicious circle that weve got to try and manage. Inside phones to areas Wildlife Management is essential this is true of nature reserves elephants are the crowning glory of this wilderness theyre wonderful unless you have too many of them. This vast area has enough space for 200 maybe 300 elephants drown it ill if i have 602900 at any given time and the. 3. 00 to 600. 00 too many that soon feel and they wreak incredible damage has she been that tall maupin the trees have