The illegal ivory trade is worth millions of dollars. Organised gangs of poachers and traders stand to make $1.3 million on each shipment delivered.
The route the ivory takes from elephant to consumer is predictable. However, because of the network of corruption and high value of ivory, it is difficult to stop the trade altogether.
Where does it come from?
Elephant populations vary across Africa. As of today, Botswana is the country with the largest elephant population, numbering around 118,000. Other notable populations include those in Zimbabwe (80,000) and Tanzania (60,000).
The reality is that any African country with a population of elephants will suffer from some degree of poaching.
Kenya, with its slightly smaller population of around 28,000 elephants, is also plagued by endemic poaching issues.
An investigation sponsored by the National Geographic in 2012 showed how militias like Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army allow ivory shipments to pass through large swathes of land on its way to an export hub.
Whilst Kony is no longer an active threat, corruption is still rife through certain parts of Africa.
The situation is not hopeless. Niassa Park in Mozambique, which has experienced catastrophic levels of elephant poaching, recently went a whole year without losing any elephants.
Furthermore, Tanzania’s elephant population has been gradually increasing since 2014. This is in large part due to stricter laws and increased efforts to disrupt organised criminal networks.
Where does it go?
When illegal ivory reaches a major export hub, usually a port city on the eastern coast of Africa, they are placed among other shipments of legal items. Authorities are usually bribed to turn a blind-eye.
An investigation by The Economist suggested that authorities in Pemba, on the northern coast of Mozambique are typically bribed $70 per shipment.
70% of the world’s illegal ivory is destined for China. However, the ivory usually travels along a network of indirect routes to prevent detection. Some shipments go via Busan, South Korea where freight agents take a cut of $450,000 per shipment.
In recent times, Myanmar has become an important destination in the ivory trade. African ivory comes up through the infamous Golden Triangle, usually smuggled by boat up the Mekong River.
Towns like Mong La in Myanmar, which lie near the border with China, cater to the Chinese demand for worked ivory. Despite the ivory trade becoming illegal in China, there is still a huge demand.
A government crackdown in 2018 saw over $1 million worth of ivory and other illegal wildlife products burned. However, there is still an unfortunate lack of legal enforcement for these issues so the problem is set to continue.