PLEASE HELP ME Will mark brainlst China announced a ban on the sale of elephant ivory for profit in 2017. Ivory is a rare and valuable commodity in China. It is purchased and sold for large amounts of money and carved into jewelry and statues. Carving and collecting ivory in China is a respected tradition. Unfortunately, much of the ivory used for carving comes from African elephants, killed by poachers solely for their tusks. The goal of China’s ban is to reduce this poaching.

To preserve their tradition, some ivory artists and collectors have turned to another source of ivory. They are using the tusks of the prehistoric woolly mammoth.

Sculpture of a woolly mammoth
What is a woolly Mammoth?
The woolly mammoth was a large, hairy mammal that lived in the American West and Eastern Siberia. They are related to modern elephants but had a thick, fatty layer beneath their skin and a double coat of fur to keep them warm. Like elephants, they had tusks made of ivory. Mammoth tusks were longer and often dramatically curved. During the last ice age, woolly mammoths roamed the Siberian tundra in large numbers. They have been extinct for around 4,000 years, but their bodies (and tusks) remain preserved in Siberia’s frozen soil.

Fossilized tusks of a woolly mammoth
Effects of Climate Change, Then and Now
Woolly mammoths became extinct at the end of the last ice age. Evidence shows prehistoric man hunted the giant animals, so humans may be partly to blame. But researchers believe climate change had a larger part in their disappearance. Mammoths fed on grasses on the open Siberian plains. Warmer weather encouraged the growth of forests and the development of peat bogs. These replaced the grasslands. Loss of their favored food supply probably led mammoths to die off in large numbers.

Today, climate change is at work again. Still warmer temperatures are causing Siberia’s permanently frozen soil (known as permafrost) to thaw. The mammoths buried in this frozen soil are being revealed by spring thaws or heavy rains. If left to the elements, their massive tusks will deteriorate into shards within three years.

Why Mammoth Tusks?
Today the trade in mammoth tusks is on the rise. Around 34 tons of the ancient ivory is imported from Russia to China each year. The export trade through government channels has been a good thing. Russian inspectors examine the tusks to separate out ones that might have scientific value. In particular, they look for those that show signs of disease or hunting by ancient humans. The mammoth tusk trade is helping to put elephant poachers out of business. Mammoth ivory is legal to own and sell. Many carvers even prefer it over elephant ivory for its age and beauty. The trade also has some definite downsides.

Many opposed to this trade argue that not all collectors are acting responsibly. Technically, the only thing a collector of mammoth ivory needs to dig for tusks in Russia is a permit. While some groups realize the scientific and archeological importance of these ancient burial grounds, others do not. They are after a quick payday. Some of the methods they use to find and retrieve the tusks cause damage to the environment. Artifacts that might otherwise have been collected or recorded are often destroyed.

Legal export has also led to criminal copycats. Gangs are finding ways to sneak the tusks into China without paying taxes on them. They also sometimes use legitimate mammoth ivory trade as cover to trade in illegal elephant ivory.

The following question has three parts. According to the article, what is a woolly mammoth and why are its tusks so valuable? What has made the mammoths' remains easier to find and collect? Why does this present a problem?