(Digital Journal) Woolly mammoths could become a 'protected species' 4,000 years after going extinct. As the Siberian permafrost melts and reveals long-buried woolly mammoths, poachers are using their tusks to disguise the illegal sale of elephant ivory.
With the thawing of the icy tundras in Siberia , tonnes of woolly mammoth tusks are emerging leading to a burgeoning trade. it's estimated that Russia exports 100 tonnes of mammoth ivory every year. Woolly mammoth ivory isn't protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, the 1989 treaty that outlawed most trade in elephant ivory. The Cites treaty is an international agreement between 182 governments around the world.
