Elephant ivory figurine sale in Thurston Co. violated animal trafficking law
A Tumwater-based auction company must pay $12,000 after admitting to selling a vintage elephant ivory figurine, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
On Monday, Crawford Family Auctions LLC pleaded guilty to a second-degree violation of the Washington Animal Trafficking Act, a state law that prohibits the sale of covered animal species or parts.
The company made the plea in Thurston County Superior Court. That same day, Judge Chris Lanese sentenced the company to two years of probation and ordered them to pay a $10,000 fine as well as a mandatory $2,000 criminal wildlife penalty, court records show. Washington State Fish and Wildlife detectives started investigating the case over a year ago, and the Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case.
“Only with vigilant enforcement of our state law will we disrupt the global black-market trade in elephant ivory and other products from endangered or threatened species,” Attorney General Nick Brown said in a news release. “Once again, our close collaboration with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has delivered justice and demonstrated that we will hold all people accountable if they engage in this illegal profiteering.”
The Olympian has asked Crawford Family Auctions LLC to comment on the case through their attorney.
The AGO initially charged the company with a first-degree violation of the law, which is a felony. However, prosecutors amended the charges to a gross misdemeanor to facilitate a plea deal.
Voters approved the Washington Animal Trafficking Act in 2015, and the state Fish and Wildlife agency is tasked with enforcing the law.
A probable cause statement filed in court describes the investigation into the figurine from the perspective of law enforcement. The following is a summary of that statement:
A detective first noticed the figurine on an online auction site on Jan. 3, 2025. The site described it as a “Vintage Carved Ivory Netsuke of a Witch,” according to the statement.
“Netsuke are small ornamental figurines traditionally worn as part of Japanese dress, and typically carved from elephant ivory or wood,” the statement says.
The detective used an alias to set up an account for the site and bid for the product. However, a California buyer made the winning bid of $375.
With taxes and shipping costs, the buyer spent a total of $485.80.
The detective obtained a warrant to search the Tumwater-based company for the figurine, but the item had already shipped to the winning bidder.
California state law also prohibits the trafficking of elephant ivory, so the detective contacted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. A warden with the agency contacted the buyer and seized the figurine.
The warden took the figurine to the California Wildlife Forensic Laboratory on Feb. 4, 2025, for analysis. There, a wildlife forensic specialist determined the figurine was carved wholly from African elephant ivory, specifically the Loxodonta africana.
This specific elephant is listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List. It’s also listed in Appendices I and II of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species.
Animals included on these lists are considered covered under the Washington Animal Trafficking Act, the statement reads.
Paul Golden, Washington State Fish and Wildlife Deputy Chief, extended gratitude to the California agency in the Attorney General’s news release.
“We would also like to thank the California Department of Fish and Wildlife,” Golden said. “Working together to enforce this law sends a clear message that the commercial sale and trafficking of threatened or endangered species will not be tolerated.”
