Princes Warn Over 'Barbaric' Animal Trade

Prince William and Prince Charles tell a conference that poaching is now "one of the most serious threats to wildlife ever".

隨著新興富裕階層的擴大和為換取原材料對非洲的大規模投資，及亞洲國家對象牙工藝品需求迅猛增長。導致為獲取象牙而非法獵殺大象的行為不斷增加。查爾斯王子及威廉王子指責非法野生動物貿易！“沒有買賣就沒有殺戮”只有所有人放棄使用皮草，才能從根本上消除野生動物貿易的產業鏈。

Killed for its horn the black rhino is now critically endangered, on the black market rhino horn is worth more than gold, here in T zoo where rhino are kept and bred, conservationists say poaching in parts of Africa and Asia has reached epidemic levels.
There is great demand for rhino horn in places like China and Vietnam, people are becoming wealthy in those countries, as more people can afford the products, in the countries that this is used people believe aphrodisiac properties from helping you join a hangover to cancer, none of these has been proven though.
But this is what is happening every single day, animals are shot, their horns cruelly removed, SKY News filmed this scene in the Kruger national park in South Africa earlier this year, in one case so horrific we have to glare it, a rhino has been maimed while still alive. Like his father Prince William has a keen interest in conservation, as a patron of the charity the Tusk Trust, he's previously travelled to Botswana with Prince Harry, in March he spoke out against illegal trade in wildlife.
We must do more to combat this serious crime if we are to reverse the current alarming trends, if not, we can see cease populations of these creatures or even an entire species disappear from the wild, we simply must not let this catastrophe unfold.
Worryingly this increasing evidence the trade in rhino horn and ivory is being driven by international serious organized crime groups, in some cases terrorists. Today's conference will discuss how to fight that and how to reduce demand across the globe, today delegates from around the world will be encouraged to sign a declaration in the Autumn to commit to ending this cruel trade.
Becky Johnson, SKY News.