Mammoth task to feed China mahjongg frenzy

YAKUTSK, Russia--Sergey B. Skrepinsky sells mammoth tusks.

Here in Yakutsk, the capital of the Sakha Republic in the Russian Far East, Skrepinsky is one of the men on Earth licensed to dig for and sell the bones of the ancient woolly mammoth.

And not for scientific research, either, he is quick to stress.

"These materials are not for academic research, but for business," he says.

More specifically, the mah-jongg industry. More than 90 percent of the mammoth bones dug up here are exported to China mainly to make the tiles for the traditional Chinese game.

Buried in the Russian permafrost in Sakha are untold quantities of mammoth remains. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia began handing out licenses to collect and sell them.

The remains are classified into five categories depending on their condition. First-class items can fetch as much as $200 (23,253 yen) per kilogram.

In 2004, auctions of remains were allowed.

About 20 to 30 tons of mammoth tusk and bone have been taken from Sakha annually over the past several years.

Some say that global warming is making the process a lot easier by thawing out the ground.

// 30.08.2006

Written by Soichiro Akiyama,
Resource: The Asahi Shimbun