成人快手

The illegal trade in elephant ivory

  • Published
Herd of African elephants
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These African elephants may be roaming around happily, but the ivory in their tusks is in big demand - and poachers will kill the animals to get it. A 成人快手 Panorama programme has found that elephant poaching is rising sharply.

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In 1989, international ivory trading was banned, but this didn't stop people from doing it illegally. This bag of tusks was seized before it made its way to the shops.

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Last year large collections of illegal ivory were seized - the most over 20 years. A large elephant tusk like this one can go on to sell for thousands of pounds.

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These young animals are being cared for in an elephant orphanage in Kenya. Their parents were killed by poachers, for their tusks.

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Not all ivory is illegal though; this man is making a carving from legal ivory - that's ivory that was bought before the 1989 ban. Ornaments like these are one of the ways the material is used and a country where it is still in big demand is China.

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But it's difficult to determine ivory that is legal, like the ivory these ornaments are made from, and poached ivory. This makes the fight against the illegal trade very difficult.