Prince William to Visit Vietnam on Behalf of Elephants and Rhinos This Month

Prince William is headed into the Asia Pacific on a solo mission… to defend two animals facing extinction due almost entirely to consumers there. Kensington Palace has announced the Prince will visit Vietnam, the capital of rhino horn use and a major destination for elephant ivory, November 17 and 18, where he will attend the Hanoi Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade. The Duke of Cambridge plans to urge people in Vietnam to stop buying rhino horn and elephant ivory. Vietnam is not only the center of the rhino poaching crisis, but Vietnamese officials are conducting virtually no enforcement of extraordinarily lax wildlife laws.

In September, the Prince spoke about his mission at the Tusk’s Time for Change event in London, where he said “We have the chance to say that ivory is a symbol of destruction, not of luxury, and not something that anyone needs to buy or sell. We have the chance to say that rhino horn does not cure anything, and does not need a legal market. Now is the chance to send an unambiguous message to the world that it is no longer acceptable to buy and sell ivory, rhino horn or other illegal wildlife products. Indeed, I would challenge anyone who knows the truth of how these wildlife products are obtained, to justify desiring them.”

To read the full article, click on the story title