Merchants have mixed ivory and mammoth ivory: fossil treasures
Cambodia is a Paradise for dealers in ivory, and they have become the victim of unusual circumstances: the weight of the tusks of elephants suddenly found fossils of mammoths and even crafts of 10,000 years ago.
Wild regions, such as the Siberian wasteland, experiencing a new era of “gold fever”. However, today it is not about precious metals: due to global warming the permafrost is retreating, exposing the bones of ancient creatures. On the black market these relic remains are extremely expensive, but because black archeologists flock like vultures for the pickings.
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Trade of ivory in most countries is not illegal — for example, in China it is regarded as one of the ethical (and more humane) alternatives to the ivory trade. However, the accidental discovery in Cambodia has shown how far it actually stretched trade this unusual product and how little we know about this sector of the market.
In the laboratory WildGenes researchers from the Royal Scottish Zoological society collect organic materials that are sold throughout Southeast Asia, and analyze their DNA to determine their origin. Cambodia is a Paradise for dealers in ivory, and it was there in one of the containers was discovered an incredible amount of smuggling 3.2 tons of the precious bones! What is more surprising — so it’s trinkets from the bones of a mammoth, which last saw the light 10,000 years ago.