Tanzania calls for worldwide ban on ivory, rhino trade

Tanzania has only 123 rhinos from 65,000 in 1970

An international ban on trading in ivory products is the only way to end the war on poaching, according to Tanzania's minister for natural resources and tourism, Lazaro Nyalandu.

The minister made his remarks in Arusha near Tanzania's national parks which once were home to a great deal more wild animals than they are today.

Nyanlandu said that elephants and rhinos are now endangered, adding that roughly 10,000 elephants are killed each year by poachers in Tanzania, which currently has less than 70,000 large "jumbo" elephants.

In terms of the country's rhino population the situation is even more bleak, with official figures suggesting that Tanzania has only 123 rhinos remaining, down from more than 65,000 in 1970.

Nyalandu said Tanzania must put international pressure on leading markets for the rhino horns and elephant tusks – most of which end up in Asia – and called on other African countries to do the same. See related article.