Online Ivory Trade Threatens Africa’s Elephants

BANGKOK (AP) – Conservationists say there’s a new threat to the survival of Africa’s elephants that may be just as deadly as poachers’ bullets: the black-market trade of ivory in cyberspace.

Tania McCrea-Steele of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said Tuesday that illegal tusks are being bought and sold on Internet forms and shopping websites worldwide.

Wildlife groups attending the 178-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Bangkok this week are calling on global law enforcement agencies to do something about it.

The elephant slaughter, which has reached proportions unheard of in two decades, is largely being driven by rising demand for ivory in Asia where tusks are often carved into tourist trinkets and intricate ornaments.