The Chinese town at the epicenter of the global illegal ivory trade
When China announced at the end of 2016 that it would close its domestic ivory market within a year, the news was hailed as a “game changer” for African elephants, whose numbers are being driven down across the continent by poachers eager to meet the demand for ivory.
The Chinese government said it would rein in the smuggling and illegal sale of ivory through tougher law enforcement, among other measures — but those enforcement efforts do not appear to have reached the town of Shuidong in Guangdong Province.
