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Permafrost Stories: Arctic Ivory Rush
Marina Antonova*
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The permafrost found in cold regions and at high altitudes is a remnant of the last Ice Age during the Pleistocene. Since organic matter does not decompose in frozen ground, permafrost is a great preservative for prehistoric remains.
In the Russian region of Yakutia, scientists have been able to resurrect extinct plants and extract soft tissues and blood of extinct animals. Permafrost has allowed researchers to study ancient DNA, restore cells, and even try to clone ancient animals.
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Among all these interesting stories there is another that is less well known – the business of harvesting the remains of prehistoric fauna in the remote Yakutian Arctic where Pleistocene palaeontology and permafrost studies are centred and where nearly 77 per cent of world’s frozen animal remains have been found. This is directly connected to the quality of the permafrost in these areas – the deepest and the coldest in the Northern hemisphere – and with the fact that instead of tundra and Arctic desert, the region was a mammoth steppe during the Pleistocene.
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Permafrost preserves ancient mammoth remains in the Russian north. Credit: Evgenia Arbugaeva
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Mammoth ivory is very valuable remains due to its significance for science and the arts. Ancient ivory is traded around the globe and the region is a centre of carving.
It is estimated that 80 per cent of Russian mammoth ivory resources are located in Yakutian permafrost (that counts for 500 – 970 million tonnes). The area is now thawing rapidly due to climate change. The combination of increased temperatures and coastal erosion is bringing an enormous amount ancient material to the surface where these precious objects decay rapidly if not harvested and preserved.
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Harvesting and carving of woolly mammoth tusks is a big business for the residents of Arctic Yakutia. Anyone with a licence is allowed to harvest ivory. Carving provides much needed income in this remote Siberian region where the cost of living is extremely high (10 to 20 times more expensive than in central Russia). The harsh climate, infertile soil, poor vegetation and limited variety of animals limits number of possible economic activities, resulting high unemployment rates and outflow of the population.
A kilogram of ice-age ivory might cost up to 1,500 Euros, depending on quality, colour, size and age of tusks. That means one medium tusk might worth more than 60,000 Euros on the market.
Obviously, procurement prices are lower than market prices, and it should not be understood that locals involved in this business are as wealthy as their customers. The bone business is seen as a way to guarantee the economic well-being of some Russian Arctic communities. More than 2500 people are directly involved in the business and many more rely on it. In some cases, entire villages are involved.
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The chart, based on reports by the Government of Yakutia, shows the growth of the “ivory rush” and represents only official numbers. But there are more people involved in this sphere, and more harvesting locations without the permission.
Like the elephant ivory trade, the primary market place is China where almost 80 tonnes of Yakutian ivory is legally exported every year. The elephant ivory crisis happened due to illegal trafficking, and a recent ban on elephant ivory trade in China opened new possibilities for mammoth ivory – a legal but still controversial alternative.
* Marina Antonova is from Yakutsk and was an intern at GRID-Arendal.
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