God's Ivory - Reportage by Getty Images€¦ · elephant population of African countries decimated for their ivory. A Tusker is defined as an elephant with a set of 100 pound ivory

God's IvoryPhotography and Text by

Brent Stirton

Some of the last of the great Elephant tuskers in Africa, taken in Tsavo East May 18, 2011. Massive elephant poaching in recent years has seen most of the mature bull elephant population of African countries decimated for their ivory. A Tusker is defined as an elephant with a set of 100 pound ivory tusks, or therabouts. This depletion of the elephant gene pool is having a negative effect on populations, with weak dna being passed on instead of the strongest.

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In 1989 the world voted a global ban on the ivory trade. Since then, tens of millions of dol-lars in illegal ivory has been smuggled and hundreds of thousands of elephants have been slaughtered. No single ivory trafficking kingpin has ever been identified and sent to prison. Instead, the international community has blamed the illegal ivory trade entirely on China with little or no analysis. They have ig-nored another major driver of the ivory trade: that driver is RELIGION. The most common use of high-end ivory globally is the carving of religious icons. Across all religions, the faith-ful attempt to manifest their devotion through these carvings. Around the world, Catholics, Bud-dhists, Muslims and others buy and trade

TOP LEFT: ICCN Rangers investigate the corpse of a recently killed sub-adult male elephant in Lulimbi, Eastern DRC, February 29, 2012. The elephant has obviously been killed for its ivory, a trend on the rise across the DRC and one which makes the Rangers job very difficult.TOP RIGHT: ICCN Congolese conservation rangers and members of the Congolese army capture illegal fisherman, Chondo, Virunga, March 12, 2012. Many of these fisher-man are involved in this activity due to poverty, others are there to supply the rebel FDLR group with food. The FDLR are the hardcore Hutu's who were behind the Rwandan massacre of 1994.


sector as a divine material as well as a good investment; paying a high price for it is an expression of devotion, one that will be re-warded in kind. By identifying Religion as the CONSUMER KINGPIN of the Ivory trade, we throw open the possibility that the faithful and their leaders can make a difference in the deci-mation of elephants worldwide. With the Ivory ban now lifted in several countries combined with an Asian economy that is unrecognizably wealthier than 1989, we are in a crucial time. It is now or never for the elephant. This essay covers the slaughter in Af-rica, the problems of weak law-enforcement, the smuggling trade, the factories and busi-ness of ivory in China, Thailand’s monks and their complicity, the Catholic fervor of the

ivory religious icons. Devotion trumps slaugh-ter as Ivory icons are gifted between heads of state, including Popes and Presidents. This is a centuries-old trade that continues unabated today. Buddhist monks, Catholic priests, Tao-ist leaders and Hindu believers bless ivory carvings. These blessings add exponentially to the value of these ivory carvings. High-end pieces can sell for up to $500 000. In China, religious motifs are among the most popular expressions of ivory carving. Consumers buy for the dual purpose of investment and the promise of something more divine, good for-tune. With less than 400 000 elephants left in the world and an estimated 25,000 killed every year, it is no longer enough to vilify without un-derstanding. Ivory is seen by the religious

Philippines and the lust of private collectors for ivory carvings of a religious nature. A full essay of this investigation is available from Bryan Christy, the investigative reporter on this essay, a 3-year exercise that is the most all-encompassing essay on the Ivory trade thus far.


Some of the last of the great El-ephant tuskers in Africa, taken in Tsavo East May 18, 2011. Massive elephant poaching in recent years has seen most of the mature bull elephant population of African countries decimated for their ivory. A Tusker is defined as an elephant with a set of 100 pound ivory tusks, or therabouts. This depletion of the elephant gene pool is having a negative effect on populations, with weak dna being passed on instead of the strongest.


Undercover Kenya Wildlife Ser-vices Ranger detusk a bull el-ephant killed by a spear in the Amboseli ecosystem in the shad-ow of Amboseli, Kenya, May 29, 2011. The elephant was killed by a single spear stroke close to the spine which penetrated deeply enough to cause massive internal bleeding. It is not known whether this was a poaching attempt or whether this was a case of human elephant conflict with the animal in the crops of local Masaai. The animal was detusked and the ivory sent to the KWS HQ in Amboseli National Park. KWS has the man-date to protect wildlife in Kenya but lack the manpower and resources. Organisations like Big Life are the private sector arm of KWS in the 2 million acre Amboseli ecosystem, working alongside them to supply manpower, vehicles, funding, in-formation networks and aircraft to practise effective conservation in the region.


The largest mass killing of ele-phants in recent history took place at Bouba Ndjida National Park in North Cameroon close to the Chad and Central African Republic Bor-ders from January through March 2012 in Bouba Ndjida National Park, Cameroon on April 6, 2012. Eye witnesses have so far located 340 carcasses, the ivory poachers themselves told local villagers they have killed over 650 elephants in their hunt for Ivory over the 500 000 hectare region. There has yet to be a proper aerial and ground survey of the dead elephants and the rainy season will make that difficult. The Poachers, numbering over 100 men, were mounted on horseback, led by 6 light skinned North Suda-nese men and armed with RPG's, grenades, Light Machine Guns and AK47's. They were in two main groups, with a number of reconnai-sance units of 4 men locating the elephants then bringing in a larger force to kill big groups. Intelligence indicates that many of the hunters came from Chad and were led by these Sudanese men. These facts have emerged from a number of eye witness acccounts, mainly by French professional hunters who saw the horsman in the Park and local hunting concessions. They had the appearence and attitude of Janjaweed fighters from the South Sudan Darfur and Chad-ian conflicts and were disciplined, unafraid, arrogant and extremely efficient hunters. The elephants were herded together by teams of 4 to 8 riders who then decimated them with AK47 fire, killing all the elephants they could find, includ-ing babies with no ivory. Groups as large as 53 have been gunned down together, with sections as large as 14 elephants lying within touching distance of each other. These horseman came into the area over the Chadian border, evi-dence of early carcasses suggests that they may have been in the park as early as October 2011.


The preparation for the burning of 5 tons of trafficked Ivory recovered from a seizure in Singapore in 2002, Manyani, Tsavo, Kenya, July 20, 2011. The ivory to be burnt is originally from Malawi and Zambia, 5 tons of the original 6.4 tons were burnt and the remainder will supposedly be sent back to the 2 countries of origin, Malawi and Zambia. It will be burnt in Kenya under the auspices of the LATF, the Lusaka Task Force, a group of affiliated countries who are supposed to form a common front against wildlife crime in Africa. The ivory burning is regarded with some cynicism from conservation quarters, no Kenyan ivory was added to the pyre, despite stocks in excess of 65 tons and their appropriation of the PR value of this event. The Kenyans response is to say that the disposal of public assets is a parlimentary affair, with due process of the law.

The burning of 5 tons of trafficked Ivory recovered from a seizure in Singapore in 2002, Manyani, Tsavo, Kenya, July 20, 2011. The ivory burnt here was originally from Malawi and Zambia, 5 tons of the original 6.4 tons were burnt and the remainder will supposedly be sent back to the 2 countries of origin, Malawi and Zambia. It was burnt in Kenya under the auspices of the LATF, the Lusaka Task Force, a group of affiliated countries who are supposed to form a common front against wildlife crime in Africa. The ivory burning is regarded with some cynicism from conservation quarters, no Kenyan ivory was added to the pyre, despite stocks in excess of 65 tons and their appropriation of the PR value of this event.


Inside the Ivory strongroom un-derneath the Kenya Wildlife Ser-vice HQ in Nairobi, Kenya, July 29, 2011. According to the Director of KWS, Julius Kipnegitch, they have around 65 tons of Ivory in storage, some from illegal ivory busts, some from natural mortality in Kenyan el-ephants. Kenya has a strong public anti-trade stance on ivory trading and claims to have other plans for its ivory, including possibly using it in a wildlife museum setting.


A baby orphan elephant and her keeper inside her stall at the Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Or-phanage in Nairobi, Kenya, July 21, 2011. This orphan is the victim of a poaching incident, her mother was killed for her tusks and the baby left to fend for herself. She was fortunate enough to be recovered by the Sheldrick Conservancy and brought to the orphanage, where there are a large number of baby elephant who are similar victims of the illegal ivory trade. She will live with a dedicated keeper who func-tions as her parent, she spends her days with the other elephants but sleeps at night in the stall with her keeper in an extraordinary relation-ship which symbolises what is pos-sible between man and animals. After a two year period she will be moved to another orphanage in Tsavo reserve and from there will be acclimatised for a move back to the bush and a natural way of life.


LEFT: Luang Poo Bru Ba Dhamma-munee, head abbot of Wat Suan Paa Phutthasatharn Supraditme thee Tem-ple, photographed with his ivory religous icons clearly visible near a ivory carving master in Surin Elephant Village in Surin, Thailand, November 9, 2011. The monk buys his Ivory carvings of Bhudist icons for resale purposes to his followers. He commented openly on the presence in Thailand of illegally imported African ivory and advised on how to get it into Thailand past customs authorities.RIGHT: "Jack," a Mahout at Surin El-ephant Village, feeds and bathes his el-ephant in the early morning in a dam at Surin Elephant Village in Surin, Thailand, November 10, 2011. "Jack" worked in China for over 13 years as an elephant Mahout. There are over 200 elephants at this village, most of whom are used in shows which appeal to tourists. The Thai elephant used to be used in logging but this was banned in Thailand over 20 years ago due to deforestation.

LEFT: Luang Poo Bru Ba Dhamma-munee, head abbot of Wat Suan Paa Phutthasatharn Supraditme thee Tem-ple, photographed in Surin Elephant Village in Surin, Thailand, November 9, 2011. RIGHT: Luang Poo Bru Ba Dhamma-munee, head abbot of Wat Suan Paa Phutthasatharn Supraditme thee Tem-ple, walks through the elephant grave-yard in Surin Elephant Village in Surin, Thailand, November 9, 2011.


Ivory on sale at government regis-tered White Peacock Arts World, Beijing, China, November 15, 2011. Exquisitely carved large pieces of appriximately one large tusk sell for an average of 1 million RMB, approximately $160,000. There has been an explosion in recent years for Ivory in China. As well as stocks purchased legally in 2008, there is a great deal of illegal ivory coming into China to sate the demands of the fast rising newly wealthy Chi-nese. There has furthermore been a crisis amongst skilled master carvers in China in that most of them are becoming older without sufficient young apprentices. In 2006 the government instituted a program for student carvers and provides subsidies for them. It ap-pears that China is relying publicly on a bid for new Ivory stocks every 10 years, it bought 60 tons in 2008, and officials talk about another bid soon. The Chinese and Japanese delegations travelled together to the last Ivory auction, where they bid as one, enabling them to keep the price very low, around $500 a kilo. In turn they are retailing it for around $2500 a kilo, in many cases to themselves and thus quadru-pling their profits pre-carving. A large carved tusk sells in Beijing for a million RMB, roughly $160,000.


Jin Mao Bone Carving Arts and Crafts, a 50 year old Ivory carving factory and the largest of the Chinese Ivory carving concerns, Beijing, China, November 15, 2011. This company was one of only two Ivory factories in 1989, now there are 35 across China. Most of these companies exist in a state of quasi-privatisation but the government has ownership of a number. This factory has 34 carvers and claims to do over 50 big pieces every year, a big piece is the equivalent of one tusk, as well as "countless" smaller pieces. A large tusk weighs on average 20kg. This is somewhat contradictory with what they claim is their annual ivory allowance of 400kg in total. The master carver at this factory is Luan Yan Juao, 56, who has been carving since he was 16. He is seen working on the largest project at the factory, an exceptionally large tusk with a historic scene which is a 3 year project.

Ivory carver Wu Rong Chang, 67, who has been carving for 50 years, photographed working on a large Ivory carving at the Guangzhou Daxin Ivory Carving Factory, the only state owned enterprise specialising in the ivory carving businessin the Peo-ple's Republic of China, Guangzhou, February 4, 2012. Daxin specialising in the Hollow Ball carving of 25 layers, large land-scape ivory hillocks and also works with Mamoth Ivory.


Master sculptor Marcial Bernales carves an Ivory head and hand set for a Catholic religious icon in his worshop in Valenzulea, close to Manila, Philippines, January 25, 2012. Bernales has been carving Ivory for 45 years and has made hundreds of pieces, all of which are of a religious nature in the Catholic faith in the Philippines. Many of these pieces are made with Ivory. His work is in the col-lections of many devotees and his ivory pieces are in great demand amongst the wealthy collectors of the Philippines. His workshop and workload are co-run by his wife Nene, who also runs his shop in Manila. She is a long running ex-pert in the garments that clothe these religious icons. Their brisk trade is evidence of the demand for Ivory, they claims to use only pre-ban ivory but that is questionable given the attraction of price for ivo-ry at 20000 pesos ($500) a kilo for raw ivory and far more for carved Benales masterpieces. It also illus-trates the loophole in Ivory legisla-tion whereby it is very difficult to tell pre-ban and post ban ivory apart. Once it is in the Philippines there are no records or statistics through which to verify claims, despite the fact that this is a centre for world ivory carving.


FAR LEFT: The largest Ivory crucifix in the Philippines, located in the Univer-sity of Santo Tomas Museum in Manila, Philippines, January 24, 2012. The body of Christ is carved from a single tusk and the arms were carved seperately. There is a long history of the use of Ivory in re-ligious icons in the Philippines, this is a trend which continues today, despite the international ban on Ivory.TOP: Devotees touch and kiss the glass housing an Ivory icon Our Lady of Manaoag in St Joseph's Cathedral, Cebu, Philippines, January 13, 2012. This devotional is part of the Sinulog festival, a larger celebration devoted to the Santo Nino, a 15th century religious icon portraying Jesus Christ as an infant, originally brought to Cebu by Ferdinand Maggelan in 1521. BOTTOM: The "Walk with Mary," pro-cession in Cebu, Philippines, January 13, 2012. The "Mary" seen on the float is Our Lady of Guidance, traditionally housed in the Basilica Minore del Santo Nino in Cebu city and she is made of Ivory. This substance has long been used in religious circles for statues and carvings of important icons across all the major religions in a practise that contin-ues today. This devotional walk is part of the Sinulog festival, a larger celebration largely devoted to the Santo Nino, a 15th century religious icon portraying Jesus Christ as an infant, originally brought to Cebu by Ferdinand Maggelan in 1521. There are a large number of Ivory carved Santo Nino's in existence too. Many are owned by private collectors who col-lect them with some fervour, others are housed behind glass in churches where devotees will often touch the glass or rub material on the glas in order to receive the blessing of the Icon. Ivory has long been a high end material for the creation of these religious pieces.


A wealthy, devout Filipino man amongst his religious icon collec-tion which is largely carved out of Ivory, Cebu, Philippines, January 19, 2012. This collection has both new and old pieces, most carved within the last 5 years. There is a collective of wealthy collectors in the Philippines who both search out and commision new work, thus sustaining a trade which allows for the continuing and growing market for new ivory. This has an inevita-ble effect on threatened elephant populations worldwide, accelerat-ing demand for a commodity which is growing in value. This feature is about representing a global picture through a new and unseen lens. It places an onus of responsibility on an influential religious and wealthy elite. It offers them the chance to acknowledge their influence for good in the face of accelerating losses that are non-recoverable. It furthermore allows them to do so in the name of a value system integral to their expoused beliefs. It simply requires a reversal of priorities, from one that places iconography above life, to one that places life about iconography. This preaches a new message of compassion for all life, all God's life, and ultimately benefits the protagonists and al-lows them to emerge not only unscathed but reinvigorates their standing as leaders in the value system their religious sector ex-pouses.

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God's Ivory - Reportage by Getty Images€¦ · elephant population of African countries decimated for their ivory. A Tusker is defined as an elephant with a set of 100 pound ivory