Vietnam destroys 2 200kg seized ivory, rhino horns

Hanoi - Vietnamese authorities destroyed more than 2 200kg of seized elephant ivory and rhino horns on Saturday, sending a message ahead of a key international conference the country is hosting next week that they want illegal wildlife trafficking stopped.

The seized horns - estimated to be worth more than $7m on the black market - came from some 330 African elephants and 23 rhino that were slaughtered by poachers to meet the demand for ivory, used to make jewellery and home decorations, and rhino horns, in the misguided belief they can cure cancer.

The horns were crushed and then burned on the outskirts of Hanoi, with Vietnam joining 20 other nations in destroying seized wildlife products.

An international conference on the illegal wildlife trade will be held next week in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital. It will be attended by officials and experts including Britain's Prince William, a vocal critic of the illegal wildlife trade.

Vietnam is one of the world's major transit points and consumers of trafficked ivory and rhino horns.


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