Customs seize 38 kilograms of illegal ivory in Czech Republic

Czech customs officers have seized 38 kilograms of illegally traded ivory after a man attempted to sell a collection of carved artefacts for 1.5 million crowns (about €60,000). The collection in Eastern Bohemia included two elephant tusks and ten carved ivory objects that the owner had brought to Czechia while working legally in Africa since the 1990s. Experts estimate the items required the deaths of at least ten protected African elephants, with the true number possibly as high as 12. Authorities have confiscated the collection, and the owner has been fined. Customs officials said the case demonstrates the Czech Republic’s commitment to enforcing international bans on the ivory trade.