• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Animals / Where Does Ivory Come From?

Where Does Ivory Come From?

July 12, 2020 by Karen Hill

Ivory comes from the tusks of elephants and from mastadons and mammoths, ancient ancestors of our modern-day elephant.

Mastadons lived until the end of the last Ice Age, about 8,000 years ago. Many mammoths lived in Siberia, and for a long time, most of the ivory came from there.

Men dug up the skeletons of long-dead mammoths preserved in the frozen ground. This ivory is called dead ivory, and it is not of such a high quality as live ivory.

Live ivory, of course, is more scarce. The best live ivory comes from the tusks of the African elephant. These tusks usually measure six to eight feet long, taller than the average man.

Because of the great demand for ivory, many African elephants were killed. The elephant population in Africa became much reduced from this senseless, greedy slaughter. Now, laws have been passed to protect the African elephant. Also, the increasing use of plastics may replace many of the former uses of ivory.

The longest African elephant tusk ever to be measured was eleven and a half feet long on the outside curve!

Related Facts

  • What does the phrase "ivory tower" mean and Where did the term "ivory tower" come from?
  • Who Invented Ivory Soap and How Did Ivory Soap Get Its Name?
  • How Did the Country Called Cote d'Ivoire or the Ivory Coast Get Its Name and What Does It Mean?
  • Why Does Ivory Soap Float?
  • Why Is The Ivory Coast The Richest Country in West Africa?
  • Where does the expression "till the cows come home" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the expression "to come out flat footed" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the phrase "to come to the end of one's rope" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the expression "to come out at the little end of the horn" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the expression "come off your perch" come from and What does it mean?
  • What does the expression "to get one's come uppance" mean and Where does it come from?
  • What does the phrase "come hell or high water" mean and Where does it come from?

Filed Under: Animals

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Why Do Zebras Have Stripes?
Next Post: Do Elephants Really Have Good Memories? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy