One-off ivory sale, Chinese workers kindle demand

Locals have received orders from Chinese people working on a road in northern Kenya, she said.

"I've been told up to 90 percent of seizures of ivory in this country are currently (from) Chinese nationals. To me, it's very clear that there's a link."

RICH MIDDLE-CLASS BUYERS

A burgeoning middle class that can afford luxuries like ivory in China and Asia is driving the demand. In Vietnam, for example, ivory sells at $1,800 per kg, she said.

In Ethiopia, ivory trinkets are openly sold to foreigners in shops and in Sudan, no one bothers to hide poached tusks.

Container loads of ivory pass through countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia, she said.

"It (should) not be easy to move a container load of ivory from a country to another when there are such strict regulations. It means there is facilitation going on," she said.

A few African countries such as South Africa, Botswana and Namibia are able to protect their herds but the rest of the countries on the continent do not have the resources to do so.

Congo's herds have been whittled down to about 20,000 from 100,000 several years back and the animals are now extinct in a few west and central African countries, she said.

Zimbabwe is probably the country with the worst problem with thousands of elephants slaughtered there, Kahumbu said.

"We've seen this reopening of the ivory trade and I think positions are softening, governments are less strict about enforcing the law," she said.