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The Profession Of “Digging Ancient Animal Carcasses” With Heavenly Income, But Not Everyone Dares To Do It

In cold Russia, there is a special group of people who work for only 2 months a year and earn tens of billions of dong. Some people call them “body diggers”, others say they work as tooth diggers, like gold diggers. It’s just that what they dug isn’t gold and silver, but mammoth ivory, with ancient rare horns and furs.

Global warming is not a new thing. Every summer, the permafrost in Siberia begins to melt. Mammoth ivory diggers also prepare to go “treasure hunt”.

In just 2 months, these people work day and night, just to look for opportunities to create a better life for themselves and their families.

It is said that a complete mammoth ivory, weighing about 65kg, can be sold for 40,000 USD (nearly 1 billion VND). If you are lucky enough, you can dig 2-3 tusks a week, earning up to 100 thousand USD (nearly 2.5 billion VND).



Siberia – the place to pursue the dream of “one night of prosperity”

Siberia is located in the Northeastern region of Russia, the largest administrative region in the country with the largest territory in the world.

Most of the mountains and tundra (moss fields) here are located in the permafrost belt, winter is long, the temperature difference with summer can be up to 75 degrees Celsius.

Siberia’s resources are extremely rich, including oil, natural gas and coal. In addition, there are large amounts of diamonds and other rare minerals.

Siberia is also considered the place to find the most mammoth ivory until now, about 90% of the world’s mammoth ivory comes from this place.

According to statistics, before 2018, more than 100 tons of mammoth tusks were found in Siberia every year. Experts say this number can still increase because the ground here has more than 550 thousand tons of ivory hidden.



Siberia is also the place where the most complete mammoth carcass has been found. For example, a baby mammoth was found in 2012.

50,000 years ago, the Siberian region was a lush steppe region inhabited by large herds of mammoths. This ancient animal had a large body, similar to modern elephants, but the tusks developed much longer and curved.

Then because of climate problems (probably human hunting), about 10,000 years ago, the mammoth became extinct. But also thanks to special climatic conditions, their carcasses are not completely decomposed because they are covered in permafrost.

Mammoth ivory mining has flourished in recent years. First, the local people discovered ivory in the land, then there were traders looking to buy it at a high price. The income of the indigenous people is very low, of course they cannot resist the sky-high economic value from the ancient ivory.



The value of an ivory can be equal to a person’s five-year salary combined. This is indeed the job of “turning dreams into reality” of ordinary people.

The profession makes a lot of money, but why not many followers?

Although this is a job that can be “one night of fortune”, there really are not many people willing to embark on the journey of ivory mining two months out of the year.

Legal mammoth tusks must be part of a team, and a license is required. The behavior of this group is very mysterious, the location is hidden, and there is a dedicated security guard, only trusted people can join.

High profits always contain many unpredictable dark sides. Mammoth ivory excavation groups are also irregular. Most are amateur groups, operating illegally. In these cases, it is even harder for the average person to participate.



But even if they are eligible to join the ivory digging team, many people are not sure to endure the rigors of a two-month “treasure hunt”.

In the summer of 2016, a photographer participated and took pictures of the 3-week ivory mining experience. He successfully joined the group, on condition of not revealing his identity and mining location, responsible for the group’s cooking and logistics.

1. A miserable life

The participants are all men. They leave their families and children, live a non-human life, muddy everywhere, hiding in simple huts, eating canned food, mosquitos pestering them everywhere, fevers caused by mosquito bites are usual story.

Heavy workload, harsh environment, almost no recreational activities. Every day, I hold the dream of finding ivory to have a prosperous night, but disappointed again and again, pressure and depression surround.



2. Danger of duplicates

According to local regulations, mammoth ivory found in the newly mined melting permafrost.

To legally obtain mammoth tusks, ivory diggers used high-pressure water guns to accelerate the melting of the ice. Sometimes, to expand the excavation area, they can also use water guns to create tunnels, dig deep into the ground, up to 60 meters deep as possible. If the mountain structure is uncertain, landslides and collapses are very likely to occur.

The ivory diggers working here have a common habit, tired of drinking, even addicted to alcohol, it is easy to have a conflict and then a fight leads to things.

What is more worrisome is that the ancient organism most likely carried an unidentified virus. Mammoths are perfectly preserved in the tundra, meaning that ancient viruses could have survived. As long as the environment is right, they can work again, which is a potential hazard that cannot be foreseen.



3. Only 20-30% of ivory diggers can make money

Ivory mining requires huge capital.

The power of the high-pressure water gun comes from the fuel pump. If working day and night, a team will use 5 tons of diesel in 3 weeks. Many groups are made up of poor amateurs whose lives are not enough, let alone buy high-pressure water guns, pumps, and oil. Therefore, they can only risk their lives to borrow money to get rich.

But not everyone is lucky enough to find complete mammoth tusks, not even the shadow of ivory, only a few bones of no economic value.

The end result for most ivory diggers is usually this: Far from home, risking their lives to unearth something hidden under thick ice, not only returning empty-handed but also carrying huge debts.



According to statistics, only 20-30% of mammoth ivory miners make a profit, the rest are at a loss.

In this transaction, the purchasing agent is the real beneficiary. A complete mammoth tusk costs tens of thousands of dollars to buy. But after processing, the value is up to hundreds of thousands of USD, maybe even reaching a million USD if it is superior in size, age and rarity.

Is the mammoth ivory trade legal?

Worldwide, with the exception of a few regions, most mammoth ivory transactions are legal, as the acquisition of mammoth ivory is not based on the killing of the mammoth and does not affect extinction risk. strains of current elephants.

Seen from another angle, the mammoth ivory trade is beneficial to the protection of modern elephants. Since the ivory trade was banned, international demand has only increased, not decreased. The emergence of mammoth tusks could serve as a substitute for reducing or even preventing illegal elephant killing.



But there are still many cases of “circumvention of the law”, using the mammoth ivory trade as a cover, mixed with modern ivory to trade.

Mammoth tusks and common ivory have differences, such as a more curved shape of mammoth ivory, and after a thousand years of freezing, the tusks are relatively brittle, turning yellow.

A professional can tell the difference easily, but with a “novel” it is different.

Scientists are also concerned that excessive exploitation of ivory (water guns shoveling the soil, digging holes …) can destroy the local ecological environment. Although many places have issued regulations that do not allow illegal ivory digging, the fines are very low, the first violation is a fine of 45 USD, shaking hands 3 times to be charged.

In addition, this professional activity is completely unprofitable for research work. This is a huge loss to the scientific community.