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World

13 times higher: Ivory prices soar in China over increasing demand, report finds

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 6, 2014 file photo, a customs officer stands guard in front of confiscated ivory before its destruction in Dongguan, southern Guangdong province, China. Street prices for illegal ivory are soaring in China, where newly wealthy middle and upper class citizens are buying carved ivory and whole tusks as a status symbol of their riches, a report released Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014 found. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013 file photo, a member of the veterinary team from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) shouts to others to clear the area as they prepare to revive a tranquilized wild elephant during an elephant-collaring operation near Kajiado, in southern Kenya. Street prices for illegal ivory are soaring in China, where newly wealthy middle and upper class citizens are buying carved ivory and whole tusks as a status symbol of their riches, a report released Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014 found. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013 file photo, a local Maasai tribesman places his hand on the tusk of a tranquilized wild elephant during an anti-poaching elephant-collaring operation near Kajiado, in southern Kenya. Street prices for illegal ivory are soaring in China, where newly wealthy middle and upper class citizens are buying carved ivory and whole tusks as a status symbol of their riches, a report released Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014 found. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) (The Associated Press)

NAIROBI, Kenya – A new report from the conservation group Save The Elephants finds that the prices paid for ivory in China are soaring because of increased demand by newly wealthy buyers.

The report released Tuesday said retail prices of ivory have increased by 13 times between 2002 and 2014 in Beijing. The wholesale price of raw tusks has tripled since 2010, said the report.

Animal conservationists say higher demand for ivory is fueling the elephant killings by poachers across Africa. Save The Elephants said earlier this year that 100,000 elephants were killed in Africa between 2010 and 2012.

Some ivory sales are legal, but the report said that nearly four out of five ivory shops in Beijing are illegal.

China's government has said it is working to combat the illegal ivory trade.