Save elephants from Chinese ivory trade or we lose them, says researcher
China's insatiable appetite for ivory may mean the end for the animals if Beijing doesn't ban the trade, for which Hong Kong is a transit hub
More than 7 per cent of the world's elephants were killed for their tusks in the space of a year - the "worst in history", according to one researcher.
And with over 40 per cent of the ivory haul bound for China, the biggest market for tusks, Joyce Poole, co-director of conservation group Elephant Voices, is urging Beijing to step in and ban the trade.
"It's either China does something, or we lose the elephants. It's that big," Poole said. "If we can't even save the elephants - such an iconic keystone animal, important to the African habitat - then what hope do we have?"
Nearly 40,000 elephants are slaughtered - using everything from spears to automatic weapons - every year for the illegal trade in tusks, said Poole. And with about 400,000 elephants left in the world today, most of them will be gone in 10 years if the poaching continues at this rate, said Poole, who has spent over 40 years researching the animals.
It is Chinese demand for ivory which is driving the poachers, Poole said. Trinkets made from ivory, sometimes known as "white gold", are a traditional symbol of wealth and status in China. And some of it is going through Hong Kong, she said.