IVORY

Ivory is a hard, white, opaque substance that is the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal. Ivory had been used for thousands of years for tools, implements and weapons and for carving and jewellery. The 1990 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) put a ban on international ivory sales to lessen the threat to endangered species by poaching. A species of hard nut sometimes called vegetable ivory or "tagua" is gaining popularity as a replacement for ivory.