Toss the Tusk

Toss the Tusk is a series of events taking place at zoos across the United States to raise awareness and change behavior related to illegal wildlife trafficking, including the elephant ivory trade. Organized by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ Wildlife Trafficking Alliance (WTA) and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), Toss the Tusk encourages the public to support long-term conservation efforts by attending a local event and contributing wildlife products, such as ivory, to eliminate them from the market and reduce demand. Learn more about Toss the Tusk here.  

Elephant ivory is a hard white substance derived from the tusks of elephants. Tusks are teeth (modified incisors) comprised primarily of dense bone tissue (i.e. dentine). Ivory was used to craft both practical and ornamental goods in certain cultures, and the international trade of elephant ivory was legal and largely unregulated prior to the passage of laws such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Demand for ivory poses a serious threat to the long-term survival of elephants, and today, international commercial trade, sale, import and export of ivory products is closely regulated or prohibited. 

Guests may contribute material items derived from any protected wildlife species. This includes any wildlife listed under the CITES Appendix I (link), domestic species (link) and foreign Endangered Species Act (link), Migratory Bird Treaty Act (link), and Marine Mammal Protection Act species (link). 

If you have questions about your item, individuals at the event will be available to assist you.  

Illegal wildlife trafficking is the second largest threat to wildlife after habitat loss and degradation. By helping to eliminate wildlife products such as ivory from the market, you help ensure that they will not drive the demand that leads to trafficking. Contributing your items can help create a brighter future for some of the world’s rarest species.  

Ivory surrendered at Toss the Tusk events will be collected by representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and safely transported to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife National Wildlife Property Repository in Colorado, where it will be stored securely. Once there, ivory can support conservation work benefiting elephants in several ways:

Education

Seeing and even touching tusks or ivory carvings is a powerful experience for many people interested in wildlife or conservation. Surrendered items may become part of education projects led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or may be loaned to other federal agencies, state agencies, accredited zoos or aquariums, museums, universities and more, inspiring learners of all ages to care about wildlife and do their part to help African and Asian elephants and other species around the world. By surrendering elephant ivory, you are supporting educational experiences that create powerful emotional connections with nature, encourage people to seek careers in conservation, increase awareness and understanding about complex wildlife issues, and inspire the next generation of conservation scientists.

Training

Law enforcement agencies are vital partners in efforts to combat the illegal ivory trade. Surrendered ivory items may be used to train law enforcement staff to identify ivory and be used as scent training for law enforcement canines, which will help agencies better detect and seize illegal ivory shipments. These trainings are done with local, state, federal and international law enforcement partners, and support conservation work across the world. Your surrendered ivory products provide agencies and trainers with a wider array of training material, increasing their capacity to recognize illegal elephant ivory products and apprehend ivory traffickers.

Research

Conservation scientists and researchers may examine wildlife products as part of their studies. Raw or carved ivory products may hold important clues to questions about elephants or other species with ivory, or may reveal important information about the historic or current ivory trade. Surrendered ivory products may provide researchers with additional data that might not have existed before and increase the amount of ivory material available for these studies. Findings from this research could be used to shape conservation priorities or new scientific studies, inform law enforcement training or detection efforts, provide new standards for conservation education, or guide future conservation policies toward species used as elephant ivory substitutes, all benefiting wildlife in the long term.

The illegal ivory trade does more than threaten the survival of elephants. Elephants play an important role in their habitats by eating high numbers of seeds and dispersing them over long distances, knocking down trees as they browse, returning nutrients to the soil in their feces, and more. Elephants also promote plant diversity, increase habitat for grasses and grazing animals, and nourish their environment. As a result of this ecosystem engineering, elephants are considered keystone or flagship species. Declines in elephant populations due to the ivory trade mean fewer elephants to support healthy ecosystems and may drive declines of other wildlife.

Report wildlife crime to 1-844-FWS-TIPS (1-844-397-8477) or online at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Crime Tips page.