By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
Saturday, 12 July 2008
Elephant numbers across Africa were estimated to have crashed from 1.3 million in 1980 to 625,000 in 1989.
Alarmed conservationists are warning of a new wave of elephant killing across both Africa and Asia if China is allowed to become a legal importer, as looks likely at a meeting in Geneva next week.
The unleashing of a massive Chinese demand for ivory, in the form of trinkets, name seals, expensive carvings and polished ivory tusks, is likely to give an enormous boost to the illegal trade, which is entirely poaching-based, conservationists say.
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