Ivory haul equivalent to 600 dead elephants

Customs officers in Hong Kong have intercepted one of the largest shipments of illegal ivory in history, hidden inside containers. Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department announced the seizure on Saturday of 1 209 elephant tusks and ivory ornaments weighing 3 813-kilograms, hidden inside two containers shipped from Tanzania and Kenya. One box was labeled as carrying plastic scrap, the other was marked as dried beans, according to a Lloyds Loading List report. The seizure represents the equivalent of more than 600 dead elephants. So lucrative is the ivory trade now that organised crime is involved. Hong Kong officials estimated the value of the seizure at the equivalent of R30.24-million.