Foresters stumble upon hippo ivory, a first in Karnataka

Jumbo catch

Hippopotamus ivory seems to have replaced elephant ivory trade in Karnataka following extensive crackdown by foresters.

The Forest Mobile Squad (FMS) in Shivamogga was in for a shock on Monday when they arrested three men who were trying to sell hippo ivory (teeth and tusks) by passing it off as jumbo ivory. Surprisingly, the miscreants also did not know that they were trading hippo ivory.

The arrest in Chandragutti, a small town in Soraba taluk, has resulted in the recovery of nine pieces of hippo ivory weighing about 12 kg. The FMS staff identified the trio as Zakir Khan, Mohammed Danish and Muzaffar Hassan.

Danish had sourced the tusk, believed to have been procured from Goa, R Ravishankar, Conservator of Forests, Shivamogga, told DH.

“This is the first time that we have nabbed traffickers trading in hippo ivory in Karnataka. The three have been remanded in judicial custody. As India does not have hippos in the wild, they must have sourced it locally or smuggled it from outside the country. The samples will be sent to the Wildlife Institute of India for further verification,” he said.

Of late, hippo ivory is being used as a substitute for elephant ivory, said M Maranco, Regional Deputy Director (South), Wildlife Crime Control Bureau of India, Chennai. “Due to the high cost of elephant ivory, traffickers turn to hippo ivory. One or two cases were registered previously in Mumbai and Chennai. This is the first in Karnataka,” he said.

Maranco said hippo ivory is either sourced from zoos or brought from Africa (Tanzania and Uganda) or Hong Kong, which is a major transit point for the trade. Hippo ivory (both canines and incisors) is not as strong or solid as elephant ivory.

“Elephant ivory can be easily identified with schreger lines — a cross-hatching or engine turning like lines. Hippo ivory (especially canines) will be strongly curved and the lower part is triangular,” explained another forest official.