The report concludes that the increase in ivory
outlets and pieces ‘is strongly indicative of a growing
market’. It is, in fact, an unprecedented growth never
seen before in any repeated ivory survey reports on
record. In less than a year and a half, the ivory market
grew from over 5,700 pieces to over 13,200 pieces.
January 2013 must have represented a serious slump in
market activity for some reason, which is not explained
in the report. Martin and Stiles (2002) reported 38,510
ivory pieces in Bangkok in 2001 and Stiles (2009)
found over 12,500 items in 2006/7. The trend was
downwards until January 2013, with less than half the
number of ivory pieces and only 40% of the outlets
seen six years earlier. Suddenly, in February 2013 the
market jumped in scale and continued its upward trend
in growth to May 2014.