What is African ivory?

African ivory is a hard, white substance derived from the tusks and teeth of elephants, hippopotami, walruses, warthogs, sperm whales, and narwhals, as well as now-extinct mammoths and mastodons. For millennia, ivory has been a status symbol — it is a rare and alluring material, a luxury product that is derived from elephants, a highly respected animal in Africa and elsewhere.