“Laos is being targeted by organised crime groups as a transit point,” says wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic. In November he will go to Vietnam for a conference on the illegal wildlife trade. The Somali militant Islamist group al-Shabaab is said to generate its funding from illegal ivory sales. “International trade bans are critical to saving wildlife, but without rigorous efforts to prevent poaching and trafficking they are never enough on their own. Photograph: Anup Shah/Getty ImagesMany west African countries are seeking a total ban on the commercial trading of lions.

Source: The Guardian September 24, 2016 20:37 UTC