discussion / Software and Mobile Apps  / 31 January 2018

New Mobile App for Reporting Illegal Ivory

Biologists without Borders has developed a new mobile app, i of the Elephant, that allows concerned people to report where ivory is being sold. Our goal is to compel sellers to be more responsible and enable consumers to choose environmentally conscious stores. i of the Elephant is a community action tool to tackle the illegal ivory trade and gives people the power to make a positive difference.

In addition, our reports will be submitted to state and federal wildlife authorities for investigation. 

Android –

 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ioftheelephant

Apple –

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/i-of-the-elephant/id1330680069?mt=8

 




Congratulations on the release of your app, @SueOrloff . Crowd-sourcing reporting of suspected illegal ivory in retail by members of the public, is a great concept (keeping verification and security considerations in mind). Given that there are many elephant ivory look-alikes on the market, including in online trade, it's important to ensure proper identification when users submit reports. TRAFFIC and WWF put together a visual ID guide many years ago, which can be downloaded here: http://www.traffic.org/publications/identification-guide-for-ivory-substitutes.html and the US Fish & Wildlife Service has an online guide to visual identification here: https://www.fws.gov/lab/ivory_natural.php. 

Do federal laws against illegally selling ivory only apply when there is an interstate commerce element? If so, how is that typically proven?

Thanks