Ivory tusks seized during an anti-smuggling operation are displayed during a Hong Kong Customs press conference on October 20, 2012 Officials travelling to Tanzania with Chinese President Xi Jinping went on a buying spree for illegal ivory, an environmental activist group has said. The delegation bought so much ivory prices in the local market soared, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said in a report. Tanzania rejected the report as "stupid nonsense". China said the allegations were "groundless". Conservationists say demand for ivory in China is fuelling poaching. In recent years, poaching has increased across sub-Saharan Africa, with criminal gangs slaughtering elephants for ivory. Tanzania is the largest source of poached ivory in the world, according to the EIA. 'Security checks averted' The EIA report cited a trader in Tanzania's main port city, Dar es Salaam, named as Suleiman Mochiwa, who met undercover investigators. He said that when the Chinese government and business delegation arrived, ivory prices in the local market doubled to $700 (£438) per kilo during the visit. Earlier this year China destroyed a large quantity of confiscated ivory for the first time "The [delegation]... used the opportunity to procure such a large amount of ivory that local prices increased," the report says. Investigators alleged that the Chinese buyers could take advantage of a lack of security checks for those in the country on a diplomatic visit.

There has been a rise in elephant poaching in some African countries. Poachers have used poison to kill 41 elephants in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park. Zimbabwe Parks spokeswoman Caroline Washaya Moyo said it was suspected that cyanide was used to poison salt pans but tests are still being carried out. She said it was Zimbabwe's worst case of elephant poaching. There has been a rise in the killing of elephants and rhinos in parts of Africa in recent years, mostly to feed demand for horns and tusks in Asia. The horns and tusks are used in traditional medicine in parts of Asia, even though scientists say they have no beneficial properties. Five of the suspected poachers have been arrested, Ms Washaya Moyo told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. She said touching the poisoned carcasses posed a danger to any animal or human. She said the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority had reminded people who live near the park, in western Zimbabwe, not to eat the meat of any dead animals they find. Some poachers were found with a large haul of tusks and cyanide earlier this year. Two years ago, nine elephants, five lions and two buffalo were poisoned.

African elephant poaching threatens wildlife future.

Three elephant corpses lay piled on top of one another under the scorching Kenyan sun.

Wildlife crime profound threat to nations, says report

 

 
A tiger cub rescued from smugglers in Thailand en route to China
 

The global illegal trade in wildlife

is worth $19bn (£12bn) a year and is threatening the stability of some

governments according to new research.

Carried out for conservation group WWF, a report highlights a "new wave" of

organised wildlife crime by armed groups operating across borders.

It says funds from trafficking are being used to finance civil conflicts.

The study comes as Malaysian officials captured about 20 tonnes of ivory in one of the

biggest seizures ever made.

“The bloody ivory trade has reached new heights of destruction and depravity in 2012”

Will Travers Born Free Foundation

According to Jim Leape, WWF International director

general, the report underlines the fact that wildlife crime has escalated

drastically over the past decade and now posed a greater threat than

ever.

Armed by ivory

 
A tiger testicle, described by   

the WWF as of dubious authenticity, on sale in Bangkok

Rangers in the Democratic Republic of

Congo's Virunga park have a new weapon in their fight against poachers.

National Park authorities have trained five bloodhound dogs to track elephant

poachers after a spate of incidents.

The first investigation using the dogs was carried out last week and led to

the discovery of illegal weapons.

Poaching is one of the key threats to the animals in Virunga, a Unesco World

Heritage Site in the war-torn eastern region of DR Congo.

The park is also home to gorillas, chimpanzees, okapi, forest elephants and

buffalo, among other wildlife. Some 300 rangers protect the park from poachers,

rebel groups and illegal miners.

'Effective weapon'

Park authorities now hope the bloodhound programme, which was implemented

with help from a specialised Swiss centre and volunteers from the German police,

will help to protect the vulnerable elephant population from ivory poachers.