The battle against elephant tusk traffickers remains difficult as the violators are protected by corrupt officials who take bribes.

Elephant tusks are available in many places, from souvenir shops and jewelry shops to tourist sites. But the sales there are very small compared with transactions via online markets.

China, Hong Kong and Thailand are the three biggest elephant tusk consumers in Asia (Underwood et al., 2013), while Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are places where trafficked elephant tusks transit before going to China.

VietNamNet Bridge - Most of the elephants killed in Africa are carried to Asia, with Vietnam becoming the center from which elephant tusks are forwarded to other markets.

Hai Phong customs officials found and seized more than 2.2 tonnes of elephant tusks smuggled into Viet Nam from Mozambique yesterday.