23 September 2016: IvoryID, a reference database that uses forensic methods to support the identification of the age and origin of ivory, was launched at the sidelines of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP17). The database allows users to differentiate legal from illegal ivory to support the fight against poaching and illegal ivory trade.

IvoryID project partners developed a method that combines analysis of different isotopes to identify both the geographic origin and age of ivory samples. The IvoryID website provides free access to a reference database of more than 700 ivory samples covering most African and Asian elephant range states. The data can be used to determine age and origin of ivory samples by comparing them to samples in the reference database, making it possible to distinguish old from new ivory and determine whether ivory originates from a legal source or was illegally taken or poached.

The forensic methods and database were developed through a collaboration between the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Germany, the University of Regensburg, the German Federal Agency for the Conservation of Nature (BFN) and the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) [CITES Press Release] [IvoryID]