AFRICA rather than Asia is now at the heart of the illegal trade in ivory. To supply it, around 4000 elephants are being killed for their tusks each year.
African ivory used to be shipped wholesale to Hong Kong, Japan and the Gulf states for carving into trinkets. Now much of the manufacturing is done in Africa, in small markets and workshops, according to two studies released on 16 September by agencies working on behalf of the Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species.
The studies are the first systematic attempt to track both the supply and the demand side…
