Thousands of products made from tigers, rhinos, elephants and other endangered species are being traded in Britain and other European Union countries because of conflicting rules and poor controls at ports and airports, a leading conservation charity has claimed.
An average of 2,500 illegal wildlife products are seized in the EU each year but experts estimate that this represents only 10 per cent of the total amount traded, a report by the Born Free Foundation says.
In Britain, more than 2,800 illegal wildlife products were seized by the UK Border Force between 2009 and 2014. This included 1,165 ivory products, 127 rhino horn items and 1,682 tiger products. Many were thought to be en route to the Far East.
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