CBS EVENING NEWS to Report on the Illegal Ivory Trade, 11/26 & 11/27

CBS News Correspondent Holly Williams and CBS News Science and Environmental Contributor M. Sanjayan report on the worst elephant slaughter across Africa in 30 years and the illegal ivory trade fueled by the demand in China. The reports will be broadcast tonight, Nov. 26 and tomorrow, Nov. 27 on the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH SCOTT PELLEY (6:30-7:00 PM, ET) on the CBS Television Network.

In tonight’s report, Sanjayan travels to northern Kenya, where he reports on the armed poaching gangs – some with links to organized crime – that kill the elephants. Last year, poachers in Africa slaughtered more than 25,000 elephants and hacked off their tusks.

In tomorrow’s report, Williams goes undercover in Cairo, an important city in the global trafficking of illegal ivory from Africa to China. She reports that the elephant carnage is driven by the demand for ornate ivory carvings in China. Chinese customers have pushed the price of ivory to a stratospheric $1,000 a pound in Beijing.

At a market in Cairo, Williams posed as a buyer and spoke with an ivory trader. During the meeting, captured on hidden camera, the trader explained how wealthy Chinese customers who prize ivory keep his business booming. Another shop owner in the same market told Williams that many of his clients included Chinese government officials who had visited Egypt on state business.

Patricia Shevlin is the Executive Producer of the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH SCOTT PELLEY.

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