Several animals grow tusks that can be called ivory, including elephants, hippos, warthogs and the now extinct mammoth; however, elephant tusks are the strongest and prettiest. You can tell elephant ivory by the crisscrossed hash marks in it. For centuries, people of various cultures have carved ivory into jewelry, religious statues and other trinkets.

    The demand for ivory tusks skyrocketed in China for several reasons. In 2006 China recognized ivory carving as a national heritage, which led Chinese people to want to buy it. In 2007 CITES voted to stop African governments from selling tusks from their stockpiles (mostly confiscated tusks) until at least 2016. This announcement raised the value of ivory and caused (mostly Chinese) financial investors to seek it out. In addition, the global economic crisis caused investors to buy ivory as a safe way to save money.

     Gao Yfang, a Chinese activist from Yale, explains the Chinese demand for ivory like this: “Chinese society has attached many values to ivory. The economic value of carved ivory as a good investment is the first. The second is the social value of ivory. The third is the cultural value of ivory as a traditional art.. . The fourth value is the aesthetic value – those who believe ivory is very beautiful, the necklaces and bangles they think are very pretty. The fifth is the religious value, such as ivory statues and guru beads, Buddhist ivory pendants, and statues of Quan Yin” (Russo).