UK leads calls to stem demand for rhino horn in Vietnam
The UK is leading calls for Vietnam and China to stem the roaring demand for ivory that is driving the rise in poaching in Africa.
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WWF: Rhino poachers are 'stepping up their game'
WWF's African species expert Matthew Lewis said he "did not want to believe" the rhino poaching statistics for 2012, which showed a record number of rhinos were killed.
– WWF's African species expert Matthew LewisPoachers are stepping up their game and we must do the same.
We need to increase protection for rangers on the front-lines and curb the demand for rhino horn in consumer countries to stop this heinous wildlife crime.
I do not want to imagine a world in which rhinos no longer exist in the wild.”
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Vietnam's deadly rhino horn trade
Rumours that powdered rhino horn can cure cancer and other diseases have fuelled a huge and growing demand for it in countries like Vietnam.
This illegal trade is threatening the very existence of one of the world's great animals.
ITV News China Correspondent Angus Walker went undercover to expose a trade that is causing the rhino to be hunted by poachers to the brink of extinction:
Click here to read more about this special ITV News investigation.
Vietnam needs to 'admit it has a poaching problem'
– Save the RhinoVietnam has rapidly grown to be the world’s largest recipient of illegal rhino horn from South Africa, with record numbers of rhinos being poached, Vietnamese consumers employing proxy hunters from Eastern Europe and Vietnamese nationals arrested with illicit rhino horns.
The Vietnamese government urgently needs to demonstrate political will in tackling the trafficking of rhino horn, through rigorous law enforcement activities, arrests and sentencing.
We won’t be able to make any progress until Vietnam admits it’s got a problem.
Facts and figures on rhino poaching in Africa
- Nearly 2,400 rhinos have been poached across Africa since 2006.
- The high level of poaching means that growth of the rhino population is at its slowest since 1995.
- Rhino poaching increased by 43% between 2011 and 2012.
- 3% of the rhino population was lost in 2012.
- In 2012, at least 745 rhinos were poached throughout Africa, the highest in two decades.
- This year a rhino is being poached every 11 hours, which is higher than the 2012 average.
Vietnam's deadly demand for rhino horns
If the demand for rhino horns in Vietnam continues at the current rate it could threaten to wipe out this majestic animal.
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Four children killed by Vietnam war bomb
A mortar shell left from the Vietnam War has exploded in a southern village, killing four children and seriously injuring five other people.
Hieu Nghia village official Le Van Giang said three children aged four to 11 died at the scene yesterday afternoon and a six-year-old boy died at the hospital.
The blast seriously injured two other children and three men.
Mr Giang said the shell exploded when the children who found the shell from bamboo brush were playing with it. A villager had found the shell five years ago as they dredged a canal.
Vietnamese government figures show ordnance have killed more than 42,000 people since the war ended in 1975.
Seven people killed in Vietnam landslides
Seven people, including three from a single family, have been killed and another three are missing after Typhoon Vicente triggered landslides and flash floods in Vietnam.
Landslides following heavy rains buried a 28-year-old woman, her five-year-old daughter and four-month-old son early yesterday while they were sleeping in their home, official Lai Thanh Huyen of the northern Tuyen Quang province said.
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