New Delhi: The surge of poaching of rhinoceros in South Africa could lead to threats to the one-horned Indian rhino in Assam and West Bengal if the African country decides to go ahead and demand opening the international trade in rhino horns. Speaking at the first stock taking meeting of the World Bank-led Global Tiger Recovery Programme in Delhi, Keshav Varma, programme director of the Global Tiger Initiative, warned that South Africa, unable to contain poaching, was inclined towards opening the trade in rhino horns.

A soaring demand for ivory in China and the Far East is putting Africa's elephant population under strain and could see the creatures wiped out altogether by poachers in some countries, conservationists have warned.

Trade in ivory was made illegal worldwide in 1989 but the ban was lifted in 2008 to allow Southern African countries to sell stockpiled ivory to China and Japan. Campaigners say this has also fuelled the demand for illegal ivory.

The number of elephants in two wildlife sanctuaries in Tanzania has fallen by nearly 42 percent in just three years, a census showed on Tuesday, as poachers increasingly killed the animals for their tusks.

The census at the Selous Game Reserve and Mikumi National Park revealed elephant numbers had plunged to 43,552 in 2009 from 74,900 in 2006.

It was carried out by the east African country's wildlife authority, Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, as part of a government plan to conserve wildlife.

More rhinos have been killed in South Africa in the past 10 months than were killed in all of 2010, new poaching numbers reveal. Statistics from South Africa National Parks show that 341 animals have been lost to poaching so far in 2011, compared to a record total of 333 last year.

South Africa's grim milestone comes on the heels of an announcement by WWF last week that rhinos have gone extinct in Vietnam. The carcass of Vietnam's last Javan rhino was found with a gunshot wound and without its horn.

China's fast-growing consumerism and lax policing of ivory laws are the latest threats to wild elephant populations, said an author of a recent report on endangered species.

Poaching of elephants and other species has increased in Central African countries, with products headed mainly to Asian markets and for the bush meat trade.

Amid reports about smuggling of red sandalwood (Rakta Chandan) from India to China via Nepal, India has sought the Government of Nepal’s help in controlling the organised illegal trade. A senior official of the Department of Customs (DoC) said India has requested DoC through diplomatic channel.

“India has requested us through diplomatic channel to help control the smuggling of red sandalwood,” said the official. “They have asked us to step up vigil at customs points, making it clear that they would also take measures to control the smuggling.”

Amendments to the Wildlife Protection Act-1972 are likely to be taken up in the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament. According to the sources, the new amendments are aimed at giving more teeth to the forest officials in dealing with wildlife trade, especially of exotic species besides making the penalties and punishments for poaching more stringent. The proposed amendments are also expected to streamline research work in wildlife. The Act with the proposed amendments would soon be placed before the Cabinet.