Who cares about bones, antlers, etc, from endangered species as part of a traditional Knife?

JoKr

JoKr

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Mar 20, 2017
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''The Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) agreed to protect giraffes for the first time by listing the species on Appendix II, which will now regulate international trade in giraffe parts, such as hides, bones and meat.''
that was in 2019!

many endangered plants and animals are on these Appendices!
different woods, bones, and antlers cutleries used (obused?) as handles for traditional knives.

how are the laws in the world, in the USA?

for a legal import of these raw materials of endangered species, or knives with giraffe handles for example, we need official certficates!

Front | CITES

cites.org cites.org

Legal acquisition findings | CITES

cites.org cites.org

Appendices | CITES

Introduction Appendices in pdf format Appendices I, II and III valid from 21 May 2023 Interpretation 1. Species included in these Appendices are
cites.org cites.org

collection of further interesting links:

https://www.aaps-journal.org/fossil-ivory-legislation.html
https://kniferights.org/state-ivory-ban-summary/

what you think about that?


(the Certificate i've got for my Giraffe Bones (from a LEGAL Griaffe Farm in SA) from a dealer:
Einfuhrgenehmigung Giraffenknochen CITES1.jpg
 
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Endangered animals should be protected. There are such laws in many countries.

Antlers , bones, horns etc. in the knife induastry are generally taken from animals that were slaughtered for other valid reasons (cow bones from cows we eat) or when they naturally drop off (antlers).
 
I own a couple of pre-ban ivory knives, warthog tusk, giraffe bone, and ebony. It saddens me to think that someday these things will be destroyed because some international group decided that they are immoral to own. None of mine have any documentation so no way to prove to the authoritarians their providence. Musical instruments of historical value have also been caught up in this bureaucracy. A sensitive subject to be sure. Discussions on this subject can go south very quickly depending on the venue. I feel no guilt for these object that I possess.
 
I’ll chime in before this whole thing goes south and gets shut down 🤣.

I bought a couple of small tropical hardwood pieces from the woodworking supply store a couple of years ago, and while I’m sure they must be legal, I did have second thoughts about it later.

Deforestation is destroying rainforests around the world. I’m sure bad logging practices are probably killing waterways as well, and we really don’t need many of the luxury items which help drive these industries.

I collect only cheap knives, mostly with plastic handles, but even then I’m contributing to pollution and environmental damage by consuming more than is strictly necessary.

On the flip side, the people making these things need to feed their families and build their communities, so there needs to be some sort of balance.
 
I have some warthog ivory and warthogs are not endangered so I am OK with that. But who knows, someday they may be adversely affected and then what? Giraffe I will take a pass on. Kudu is still a possibility as they are plentiful.

We visited Rwanda a few years back. They spend a great deal on protecting their wildlife. They have figured out there is more profit in preserving elephants and rhinos then there is in destroying them. We spoke to some prior poachers. They now work in tourism and say their lives have improved dramatically from when they sold poached ivory.

,,,Mike in Canada
 
Human bone fragments and stem cells. May as well get to the shutdown rapidly.
 
I’m all for salvaged covers. Made of bones or antlers found in the wild would have more meaning than from animals killed just for their parts.

Same for wood covers, like the recent Lick Creek #14 wormwood. Great reused/recycled covers instead of freshly harvested materials.
 
Here in California I've always been required as a craftsman to use sheds for any antler projects. Had to stop using mammoth ivory and tooth on July 2016 to prevent elephants being poached. Using those fossilized materials was a big part of my business at 20 percent of the knives I made at that time used mammoth tooth or ivory. Honestly, I don't miss them now as they and the tooth in particular were a PITA to work with.

Folks don't realize the kind of elk we have here locally. I'm 6'3" to give ya an idea of the size of these sheds:

h7KT5Z8.jpg


Different set, even bigger and heavier:

nUIqq0H.jpg


Xmptm9O.jpg
 
Horsewright said:
Here in California I've always been required as a craftsman to use sheds for any antler projects. Had to stop using mammoth ivory and tooth on July 2016 to prevent elephants being poached. Using those fossilized materials was a big part of my business at 20 percent of the knives I made at that time used mammoth tooth or ivory. Honestly, I don't miss them now as they and the tooth in particular were a PITA to work with.

Folks don't realize the kind of elk we have here locally. I'm 6'3" to give ya an idea of the size of these sheds:

h7KT5Z8.jpg


Different set, even bigger and heavier:

nUIqq0H.jpg


Xmptm9O.jpg
Click to expand...
My father once told me of seeing an elk that towered over him (he is 6'2"), what felt like 12' at the tip of the antlers. I was like, yeah, yeah, back then...Well, your pictures put that into perspective...
 
I have maybe three knives in fossilized mammoth ivory or mammoth tooth. The mammoth tooth example is visually the most interesting. And the other two knives are nice in their own way. But in retrospect, I could've done without buying them. I realize all of them came from animals that died likely 10,000 years ago or more, and not likely due to poaching or anything involving man's presence in their environment back then. But even the fossilized bone/ivory being collected today is sometimes subject to regulation in efforts to preserve the historical and sometimes cultural significance of them. And I'm fine with that. If there's any sort of lucrative market for this stuff at all, it puts it all at risk eventually.

Regarding the antler material being used these days, like elk or deer, I'm at least hopeful the examples I have might've come from simple sheds from live animals, instead of getting them the 'other way'. And as with the fossilized ivory or tooth mentioned above, I've sort of outgrown the desire to accumulate more of it. I think my favorite handle material in a knife is wood - and nothing exotic is necessary. I just like the feel of natural wood in the hand - the texture of the grain and the inherent warmth of it is what appeals to me. It's much less about the exotic nature of it - almost nothing, in fact. Something as simple as walnut, maple, birch or oak suits me fine, for the attributes I value most in wood.
 
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Most of my pocket knife handles are from cow bones, which are a by-product of livestock farming. Those animals were slaughtered for their beef and hides anyway. I don't think any extra cattle are being killed just for their bones.

I have a very few stag-handled (maybe 4) and I think one elk-handled knife. Antlers shed annually and do not require killing the animals to harvest, though I suppose some poachers might do so if the demand for the antlers were high enough.

The only wood-handled knife I have is a Buck 110 from 1979. I don't think the wood panels were from endangered trees.
 
I support the protection of truly endangered species yet think some people and organizations carry it to an extreme. Non knife related species as to knives but two examples of current listed endangered species I'm thinking of:

Red Breasted Robins - I don't understand why these are on the endangered species list. Thousands upon thousands of these birds come through my area twice (coming and going) a year.

Spotted Owl - The area used to demonstrate the scarcity of the spotted owl did in fact have a low population of them yet, just forty miles down the road from that site in any direction, there were thousands of them.
 
I have a handful of turn-of-the-century knives and straight razors from Sheffield that used endangered materials, but don’t have any “new make” knives that use them. I do have plenty of stag, bone, and tropical wood covers on more recent knives but I have confidence that the large companies that made them (Case, GEC, Queen, etc) acquired the materials in an ethical manner.
While I completely agree with protecting endangered animals, I don’t see the purpose of destroying items made in the past with these materials. To me, then the creature or plant would have completely died in vain.
 
My knives are all cow bone and wood, plastic, and one in micarta. I’d like one in giraffe or ivory. But for me, it would be way more special if I harvested the animal or found the shed. I’d love to have a mammoth handled, but because I’m a history nut. I like the mammoth and early man history and the stories of thawed mammoths being discovered. To me it’s just neat, but it isn’t about money or fancy materials, it’s about history.
 
Modoc ED said:
Red Breasted Robins - I don't understand why these are on the endangered species list. Thousands upon thousands of these birds come through my area twice (coming and going) a year.

Spotted Owl - The area used to demonstrate the scarcity of the spotted owl did in fact have a low population of them yet, just forty miles down the road from that site in any direction, there were thousands of them.
Click to expand...
The robin is not on the endangered species list at all. The US population is over 300 million currently. They are protected under the Migratory Bird Act of 1918 like most other native song birds though.
The Spotted owl isn't either.....its classified as "near threatened"...whatever that means....
 
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