Top Tweets for #StopIVORYTrade

What is ivory - and why does it matter? Ivory is dentine, the same material found inside teeth. It has historically come from several species, including elephants, hippos, walruses, and narwhals. Elephant ivory became the most commercially valuable because of its size, workability, and distinctive Schreger lines. For centuries it was carved into decorative and practical items, but demand led to widespread poaching and severe declines in elephant populations. Although international bans have reduced legal trade, illegal ivory trafficking remains a threat. Elephants are slow to reproduce, and the loss of mature individuals, especially large-tusked bulls and significant breeding females, has long-term impacts on population structure and genetics. Among the rarest are Super Tuskers, elephants with exceptionally large tusks that reflect decades of growth and survival. In Tsavo, protecting these individuals and supporting elephant conservation through monitoring, anti-poaching collaboration, habitat protection, and community programmes remains central to our work. The full article is available in the "News" section of our website. (Link in comments)

Further loss of critically endangered African forest elephants due to the illegal ivory trade will likely result in the continued decline of threatened African ebony trees, suggests a newly discovered mutualistic relationship between the charismatic species described in #ScienceAdvances. https://t.co/d52LcoL0kg