Ivory networks (map) (IMAGE)

University of Washington

Ivory networks (map)

Caption

These maps illustrate shifts in smuggling operations over time to different African ports. Each solid dot represents an ivory seizure in that country. Blue lines indicate that two seizures are connected by genetic matches among tusks, physical evidence or both. Initially, savannah elephant ivory shipments were smuggled through Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi, but shifted to Kenya in 2010-2012 and Uganda in 2013-2015. Next, operations shifted to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola in 2016-2019. Forest elephant ivory shipments shifted from Togo in 2013-2014 to Nigeria in 2016-2019, and showed connections to seizures in Central Africa.

Credit

Wasser et al. 2022, Nature Human Behaviour

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