Duke urges organisations to help end ‘abhorrent crime’ of illegal wildlife trade

THE DUKE of Cambridge has called on organisations to help end the “abhorrent crime” of illegal wildlife trade, following what he called an “encouraging” year of seizures and investigations.

William welcomed Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to St James’s Palace for a meeting of the United for Wildlife Taskforces in London.

United for Wildlife (UfW) works to combat illegal wildlife trade by bringing together conservation organisations, law enforcement, governments and global corporations.

The Duke gave a speech yesterday, the day after he and the Duchess of Cambridge hosted a Buckingham Palace reception for delegates attending the UK-Africa Investment Summit.

Addressing the meeting, chaired by Lord William Hague and attended by US ambassador Woody Johnson, the Duke said it was “encouraging” that last year saw a record number of wildlife seizures and investigations.

William praised Operation Blizzard, co-ordinated by Europol and Interpol, which led to 12 arrests and more than 4,000 seizures of live reptiles.

But he said: “There are still too many criminals who know that they can find a market and believe they can act with impunity.

“Everything that you do to root out corruption, improve your processes and techniques, and flag suspicious activity to law enforcement helps make this trade too risky for criminals to stomach.”

He then urged the organisations to play their part in helping to end the “abhorrent crime” of illegal wildlife trade, which includes the poaching of elephants for ivory and tigers for their skins.