大象传媒

The illicit trade in animal parts: some $20 billion dollars worth of it, is traded annually, with 1000s of endangered animals, from rhino to elephants to turtles, being slaughtered for the sake of aphrodisiacs, medicines, or pendants. Experts like Heather Sohl, the Chief Advisor for Species at the global charity WWF, estimate that at the current rate of destruction, some breeds of wild rhino will be extinct in just a few years. We hear from a former poacher in a game reserve in Malawi, from Taiwan where turtle smuggling has become big business, and from film star Jackie Chan, who is now campaigning to re-educate Chinese on their taste for a variety of animal products. China remains the main importer of smuggled animal products, some of which are widely used in Chinese traditional medicine. We speak to Dr Kaicun Zhao, president of the UK's Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, about what his industry should be doing to reduce China's growing taste for the bones and organs of engangered species.

(Photo: African elephant, Credit: Daniel Hayduk/AFP/Getty Images)