LASER TECHNOLOGY
OFFERS
BREAKTHROUGH
IN DETECTING
ILLEGAL IVORY
A new way of quickly distinguishing between illegal
elephant ivory and legal mammoth tusk ivory could
prove critical to fighting the illegal ivory trade. A
laser-based approach developed by scientists at the
Universities of Bristol and Lancaster could be used
by customs worldwide to aid in the enforcement of
illegal ivory from being traded under the guise of
legal ivory.
Despite the Convention on the International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) ban on ivory,
poaching associated with its illegal trade has not
prevented the suffering of elephants and is esti-
mated to cause an 8% loss in the world’s elephant
population every year. The 2016 African Elephant
Database survey estimated a total of 410 000
elephants remaining in Africa, a decrease of approx-
imately 90 000 elephants from the previous 2013
report.
While trading/procuring elephant ivory is illegal,
it is not illegal to sell ivory from extinct species,
such as preserved mammoth tusk ivory. This legal
source of ivory is now part of an increasing and
lucrative “mammoth hunter” industry. It also poses a
time-consuming enforcement problem for customs
teams, as ivory from these two different types
of tusks are broadly similar, making it difficult to
distinguish from one another, especially once speci-
mens have become worked or carved.
In this new study, scientists from Bristol’s School
of Anatomy and Lancaster Medical School sought
to establish whether Raman spectroscopy, which is
already used in the study of bone and mineral chem-
istry, could be modified to accurately detect differ-
ences in the chemistry of mammoth and elephant
ivory. The nondestructive technology, which involves
shining a high-energy light at an ivory specimen,
can detect small biochemical differences in the tusks
from elephants and mammoths.
Researchers scanned samples of mammoth
and elephant tusks from London’s Natural History
Museum using the laser-based method Raman
spectroscopy. Results from the experiment found the
technology provided accurate, quick, and nonde-
structive species identification.
“The gold standard method of identification
recommended by the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime for assessing the legality of ivory
predominantly are expensive, destructive, and
time-consuming techniques,” said Dr. Rebecca
Shepherd, formerly of Lancaster Medical School and
now at the University of Bristol’s School of Anatomy.
“Raman spectroscopy can provide results quickly (a
single scan takes only a few minutes) and is easier
to use than current methods, making it easier to
determine between illegal elephant ivory and legal
mammoth tusk ivory. Increased surveillance and
monitoring of samples passing through customs
worldwide using Raman spectroscopy could act as
a deterrent to those poaching endangered and criti-
cally endangered species of elephant.”
SCANNER
A selection of
elephant and
mammoth tusk
samples.
An ivory object, assumed to be of Asian elephant origin,
under the microscope inside a research-grade Raman
spectrometer.
8
M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N • J U L Y 2 0 2 4
CREDIT:
BEN
BOOTH
CREDIT:
DR.
REBECCA
SHEPHERD
OFFERS
BREAKTHROUGH
IN DETECTING
ILLEGAL IVORY
A new way of quickly distinguishing between illegal
elephant ivory and legal mammoth tusk ivory could
prove critical to fighting the illegal ivory trade. A
laser-based approach developed by scientists at the
Universities of Bristol and Lancaster could be used
by customs worldwide to aid in the enforcement of
illegal ivory from being traded under the guise of
legal ivory.
Despite the Convention on the International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) ban on ivory,
poaching associated with its illegal trade has not
prevented the suffering of elephants and is esti-
mated to cause an 8% loss in the world’s elephant
population every year. The 2016 African Elephant
Database survey estimated a total of 410 000
elephants remaining in Africa, a decrease of approx-
imately 90 000 elephants from the previous 2013
report.
While trading/procuring elephant ivory is illegal,
it is not illegal to sell ivory from extinct species,
such as preserved mammoth tusk ivory. This legal
source of ivory is now part of an increasing and
lucrative “mammoth hunter” industry. It also poses a
time-consuming enforcement problem for customs
teams, as ivory from these two different types
of tusks are broadly similar, making it difficult to
distinguish from one another, especially once speci-
mens have become worked or carved.
In this new study, scientists from Bristol’s School
of Anatomy and Lancaster Medical School sought
to establish whether Raman spectroscopy, which is
already used in the study of bone and mineral chem-
istry, could be modified to accurately detect differ-
ences in the chemistry of mammoth and elephant
ivory. The nondestructive technology, which involves
shining a high-energy light at an ivory specimen,
can detect small biochemical differences in the tusks
from elephants and mammoths.
Researchers scanned samples of mammoth
and elephant tusks from London’s Natural History
Museum using the laser-based method Raman
spectroscopy. Results from the experiment found the
technology provided accurate, quick, and nonde-
structive species identification.
“The gold standard method of identification
recommended by the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime for assessing the legality of ivory
predominantly are expensive, destructive, and
time-consuming techniques,” said Dr. Rebecca
Shepherd, formerly of Lancaster Medical School and
now at the University of Bristol’s School of Anatomy.
“Raman spectroscopy can provide results quickly (a
single scan takes only a few minutes) and is easier
to use than current methods, making it easier to
determine between illegal elephant ivory and legal
mammoth tusk ivory. Increased surveillance and
monitoring of samples passing through customs
worldwide using Raman spectroscopy could act as
a deterrent to those poaching endangered and criti-
cally endangered species of elephant.”
SCANNER
A selection of
elephant and
mammoth tusk
samples.
An ivory object, assumed to be of Asian elephant origin,
under the microscope inside a research-grade Raman
spectrometer.
8
M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N • J U L Y 2 0 2 4
CREDIT:
BEN
BOOTH
CREDIT:
DR.
REBECCA
SHEPHERD
