THE CYCLE 1 Poachers force elephants to the brink of extinction...
CRUEL beyond words, the illegal ivory trade means an elephant is slaughtered every 15 minutes – but the outlaw shows no remorse.
Casually smoking a cigarette, he reels off a list of prices for tusks to be smuggled.
He is totally unconcerned that he and his evil kind are driving these beautiful creatures to the brink of extinction.
In fact, as a shock new documentary film produced by Hollywood legend Leonardo DiCaprio shows, a fall in the number of elephants suits Far East ivory dealers just fine.
Battle
For shortages push up the price of any commodity. And the value of African ivory has soared by 20 per cent as supplies dwindle.
Conservationists are struggling to save the elephants but fear they are fighting a losing battle with poaching gangs, who shoot the animals, hack off their tusks and leave the carcasses to rot.
The population has slumped from 1.3 million in 1979 to only 400,000 today. In the past five years alone, 150,000 of the huge beasts have been killed.
The ivory trade middleman who spoke to undercover investigators in the Vietnamese village of Nhi Khe could hardly care less.
Boasting of his door-to-door delivery service, he said: “Blood ivory is 1,300 dollars a kilo (£1,042). Transportation fee to Hong Kong included, it will be 1,500 dollars.
“We’ve been doing this a long time. There’s nothing to worry about.
“As soon as we receive full payment, we will deliver to your home.
“If you find something wrong about the product, you can get a full refund.
“We’re not going to cheat you. Normally there aren’t any problems. But there are always risks. After all it’s illegal. So we have to do it secretly.”
In reality, corruption among officials means ivory tusks and ornaments are openly traded on the streets of the village 12 miles outside the capital Hanoi.
When the smugglers cross into China they have to bribe border guards.
A professional ivory trader admitted: “If you cannot pay them off it is a problem.” But betw to se wor beh Netf
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