NPR

Woolly Mammoths Are Long Gone, But The Hunt For Their Ivory Tusks Lives On

Last year China banned the sale of commercial elephant ivory. But that's led to another illicit trade — in woolly mammoth tusks — that is having a severe impact on Siberia's permafrost.
Last year, China banned the sale of commercial elephant ivory to stop poaching. That's when interest in ancient, buried woolly mammoth tusks boomed.

As a substitute for coveted elephant ivory, mammoth tusks can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. A rush is underway to dig them out of the frozen earth in Siberia and sell them, mostly to China. The hunt is making millionaires of some men living in this impoverished region —

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