The woolly mammoth, an extinct species that disappeared from Earth between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago, is making a comeback.
As conservation groups and governments boost efforts to crack down on the illegal elephant ivory trade, there's been an increase in demand for mammoth tusks, or"ethical ivory." These fossils, harvested illegally from Russia's Artic North, can fetch thousands of dollars.
The people who excavate the tusks, called "tuskers" or "mammoth pirates," spend months at a time in the Siberian wilderness in the hopes of striking it rich.
Photographer Amos Chapple of Radio Free Europe gained exclusive access to an illicit excavation site. He shared some of his photos with us. You can read the full story here.
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Summertime brings tuskers to Russia's Arctic North, where mammoth skeletons have been perfectly preserved under frozen ground, or permafrost, for millennia.
In its heyday, the mammoth weathered the cold with a dense undercoat and long, curving tusks, which may have been used for foraging for food beneath the snow.
Source: National Geographic
Today, ivory tusks are intricately carved and sold for more than $1 million each. Chapple says their high prices actually drive increased demand in "status-mad" China.
Source: Radio Free Europe
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