Mammoth Ivory-questions

meako

meako

Gold Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2006
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Saw something that got my knife gland twitching.I have previously been denied the ability to bring an elephant ivory GEC (sunfish from memory) into Australia as it was rightly deemed by the vendor to not worth the risk of losing it to customs even with paperwork.Fair enough I say but
*How do they differentiate between elephant and mammoth regarding import export regs?
*Does mammoth fall under CITES type control/ban
*How long ago did the mammoth become extinct and where do we get the ivory from?
*Is it sourced from those illegal Siberian dudes who dig it out of the riverbanks ?
*What is the major source of mammoth ivory?
*Can anyone give me a little more detail on the terms interior/exterior ivory-bark ivory and light ivory?other than the obvious.

cheers
 
I have a Luthier friend that makes a lot of fossilized ivory pieces. According to him, the fossilized ivory is technically no longer ivory but bark and dentin has been replaced by minerals. It is not CITES controlled. The illegal stuff comes from taking dug up tusks from state and fed land without a permit etc.
 
Generally speaking the Wooly Mammonth became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch or about 10,000 years ago; probably primarily due to hunting by man and changes in their habitat. According to this there were remanant populations that existed up until about 4,000 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolly_mammoth

I have no idea about import/export restrictions. The knife handles/scales are made from bone not ivory as far as I know. GEC for example would not be using a restricted/illegal material on their knives.
 
22-rimfire said:
Generally speaking the Wooly Mammonth became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch or about 10,000 years ago; probably primarily due to hunting by man and changes in their habitat. According to this there were remanant populations that existed up until about 4,000 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolly_mammoth

I have no idea about import/export restrictions. The knife handles/scales are made from bone not ivory as far as I know. GEC for example would not be using a restricted/illegal material on their knives.
Click to expand...


4,000 years because that's when the christian flood happened
 
mountainmist said:
4,000 years because that's when the christian flood happened
Click to expand...

Per our forum guidelines, let's please not get sidetracked into off-topic areas best discussed or debated elsewhere. Thank you.
 
Debatable point.

Mammoth, Mastedon clearly NOT endangered species as they are long extinct. But exporting tusks- from illegal Siberian dudes or others- without licences undoubtedly is (historical artefact etc) illegal.

But then, how can you be SURE that you are getting Mammoth and not some doctored material??

As for GEC not using restricted material on their knives, not really, it depends entirely on the definitions of the importing country. Much of Europe and presumably Aus/NZ have rules about the import of recent elephant ivory or endangered animal products, doubtless certain states in the US do too.

I'd be most worried about how to verify the authenticity of costly Mammoth handles in the first place.....:eek:
 
Ok thanks for the responses and info. I will furnish a little more detail and try not to infringe on forum guidelines by saying the knife in question is a GEC knife . The vendor is on the GEC website . I have dealt with on many occasions and found him to be par excellence states mammoth ivory not ivory bone or fossil ivory . So in other words I trust that it is genuine.
cheers.
 
thanks for that link Medicevans.
I must look further into this.
As vendor stated -happy to ship it but my responsibility. Lets face it does the average customs officer know the difference between ivory, mammoth or elephant,walrus or whale?Or for that matter ivory bone which is bone. I doubt it.
Unfortunately the info line is shut on the weekend.
 
There is always some risk when entering another country in terms of "what's in your pockets". My approach is mostly to say if asked, it's a knife. If asked further, I would say as far as I know the handle is bone. I was looking for GECs "mammoth ivory" and wanted to compare it to "primitive bone" visually but was unsuccessful in finding one at one of the retailers. Maybe someone here could show both in a side by side comparison picture for informational purposes since many here have far more GEC blades than I do.

I have been the recipient of a significant search when entering Canada, and other less intrusive searches coming in and out of the country. In South America, it's drugs. In Canada, it's drugs.
 
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Ok its now business hrs Monday morning and it appears as though Australian customs are still not in the office. Great news for smugglers.
I'm wanting to get this sent here as opposed to bringing it through customs at airport.
According to my internet findings mammoth ivory is unrestricted. I'm very suspicious because this seems too much like commonsense.
 
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