In most circumstances, yes. Buying, selling, importing, and exporting elephant ivory is illegal in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and most other major markets. A handful of narrow exceptions exist for genuine antiques and items containing only trace amounts of ivory, but the rules are strict and the burden of proof falls on the owner.
Federal Law in the United States
U.S. federal regulations, updated in 2016 in response to a surge in elephant poaching, prohibit the import and export of African elephant ivory with very few exceptions. Interstate commerce (selling ivory across state lines) is also banned unless the item qualifies as an antique or contains only a tiny, incidental amount of ivory and meets specific criteria. The African Elephant Conservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Lacey Act work together to form this legal framework.
Simply owning an ivory item you already have is not a federal crime. You can keep an inherited piano with ivory keys or a carved figurine that’s been in your family for decades. The legal issues arise when you try to sell, ship across state lines, or move the item internationally. At that point, you need to prove the item falls within one of the legal exceptions, or the transaction is illegal.
The Antique Exception
The most common legal pathway for ivory sales is the antiques exemption under the Endangered Species Act. To qualify, an item must meet all four of these criteria:
- Age: It must be at least 100 years old.
- Species: It is composed in whole or in part of an ESA-listed species.
- Unmodified: It has not been repaired or altered with ivory from a listed species after December 27, 1973.
- Import port: If imported, it entered the country through a designated endangered species “antique port.”
The seller bears the responsibility of proving all four conditions are met. You don’t necessarily need laboratory testing. Family photographs, art history publications, records tracing the item’s ownership history, or attribution to a known artist or time period can serve as evidence. But vague claims like “it’s been in the family forever” without documentation are unlikely to hold up.
State Laws Can Be Even Stricter
Several states have passed their own ivory bans that go further than federal law. California, New Jersey, New York, and Washington all prohibit the purchase, sale, offer for sale, trade, or distribution of ivory and ivory products. Some of these state laws are broader in scope than the federal rules. California, New Jersey, and New York, for instance, also ban transfers of mammoth ivory, closing a loophole that federal law leaves open. If you live in one of these states, the stricter state rules apply even if a transaction might technically be legal under federal law.
Penalties for Illegal Ivory Trade
The consequences are serious. Under the Lacey Act, knowingly importing or exporting illegal wildlife products is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and fines up to $250,000. Violations of the Endangered Species Act carry up to one year in prison on their own, but prosecutors can layer charges under the Lacey Act to increase the penalties. Items involved in illegal transactions can also be seized and forfeited.
International Bans and CITES
The international ivory trade is governed by CITES, the treaty that regulates cross-border wildlife commerce among nearly every country in the world. African elephants are listed under the treaty’s highest protection category, which effectively bans commercial international trade in their ivory. China, once the world’s largest ivory market, implemented a domestic ban in 2017. The European Union restricts ivory exports, and many African nations where elephants live have their own strict prohibitions.
The UK’s Ivory Act of 2018 is one of the toughest laws globally. It bans dealing in elephant ivory with only narrow exceptions for pre-1918 items of outstanding artistic or cultural value, musical instruments, and portrait miniatures. In May 2024, the UK confirmed it would extend the ban to cover ivory from four additional species: the common hippopotamus, killer whale, narwhal, and sperm whale.
Mammoth Ivory and Other Species
Mammoth ivory occupies a legal gray area. Because mammoths are extinct, their ivory is not covered by CITES or the U.S. Endangered Species Act at the federal level. Tusks excavated from Arctic tundra, primarily in Russia, are legally traded in much of the world. After China’s 2017 elephant ivory ban, demand for mammoth ivory and its price both jumped significantly as buyers sought alternatives.
The problem is that mammoth ivory looks very similar to elephant ivory. Enforcement agencies worry that elephant ivory is being laundered by mislabeling it as mammoth. This concern has led states like California, New Jersey, and New York to ban mammoth ivory sales alongside elephant ivory. If you’re considering buying mammoth ivory, check your state’s laws carefully.
Ivory from walruses, hippos, and narwhals falls under different regulations depending on the species and jurisdiction. Walrus ivory, for example, is governed by the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the U.S., which generally restricts trade but allows Alaska Natives to harvest and sell carved walrus ivory as part of their cultural traditions. Hippo teeth have historically been traded as a cheaper alternative to elephant ivory, but growing concerns about poaching have led some countries, like Uganda, to ban the trade entirely after discovering that legal markets were being used to move poached products across borders.
What You Can and Cannot Do
If you’ve inherited ivory or already own it, you can keep it in your home. You can pass it to family members within your state in most cases, though you should check your state’s specific rules. What you generally cannot do is sell it, ship it across state lines, or take it out of the country unless it clearly qualifies as a pre-1973, over-100-year-old antique with documentation to prove it.
If you’re thinking about buying ivory online or at an antique shop, be aware that the legal burden is real. Sellers must be able to demonstrate the item’s age and provenance. Items without clear documentation are risky purchases that could expose both buyer and seller to federal or state penalties. Many auction houses and online marketplaces have stopped handling ivory altogether to avoid the legal complexity.