Simon Denyer

TOKYO — Japan’s biggest e-commerce platform said Wednesday that it would ban the sale of ivory, joining its competitors and putting renewed pressure on the government to ban the trade in what is the world’s largest legal ivory market. Yahoo Japan…

TOKYO — The best ivory for carving a hanko, or a personal seal, comes from the center of the tusk. That is where the ivory is firm and flawless, says Hideki Arami, a third-generation hanko carver who has a small shop in Tokyo’s busy Shibuya…

In a rescue center, the pangolin slowly wakes and uncurls, sniffing out a nighttime feast of ants’ eggs, then lapping it up with its implausibly long tongue. One of 74 pangolins rescued from the back of a truck in Vietnam in April, its survival has…

PHUNG THUONG, Vietnam — Inside a row of rusting cages, 15 adult moon bears are imprisoned in varying degrees of apathy and distress. Some lie on their backs in the tiny enclosures, unable even to stretch out; others loll their heads or chew…

Li Chunke began carving ivory after leaving school as a 15-year-old boy. Today, at 68, this master craftsman is working until the early hours of every morning, trying to finish a 20-inch statuette of Buddha on an unforgiving deadline — before China…

BEIJING — A Chinese museum has pulled a photo exhibition showing African faces juxtaposed with those of wild animals, after being accused of racism. And if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, the country’s main social media messaging service was forced…

BEIJING — China will close 67 ivory carving factories and retail shops on Friday, roughly one-third of the total, as it moves to implement a pledge to end all domestic ivory sales by the end of the year. The news is likely to foster hopes for an…

BEIJING — Air China has become the first airline in mainland China to ban shark fin cargo, marking a dramatic shift in attitudes toward trade in endangered wildlife here and throwing a lifeline to shark populations threatened with imminent…

BEIJING — China promised Friday to halt its domestic ivory trade completely by the end of 2017, a decision greeted by environmentalists as offering real hope for an end to a poaching crisis that is wiping out tens of thousands of elephants across…

The price of raw, illegal ivory has almost halved in China in the past 18 months because of growing public awareness, a promise from President Xi Jinping to ban the trade, a far-reaching anti-corruption drive and a slowing economy, according a new…

In Hong Kong, licensed ivory shops legally sell anything from elephant tusks costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to necklaces, bangles and figurines made of the same material for thousands or hundreds of dollars. But they are supposed to only…

This video is currently not available HONG KONG —It could be the beginning of the end for the illicit trade in ivory. Last month, on a state visit to Washington, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to stop the commercial trade in ivory in his…

BEIJING — China has pledged to end the processing and sale of ivory, a move that — if fulfilled — would be a major victory in the battle to end the slaughter of tens of thousands of African elephants by poachers every year. But the country has not…

BEIJING – China has announced a one-year suspension on imports of carved ivory products from Africa, but conservationists said the largely symbolic move would do nothing in itself to stem the illegal ivory trade here that is fueling rampant poaching…

This video is currently not available A new report that accompanies this video by the Environmental Investigation Agency says Tanzania is the hub of a resurgent elephant poaching industry thanks to growing demand for ivory in China. (Environmental…

This video is currently not available Former NBA star Yao Ming has helped to launch an international public awareness campaign targeting ivory and rhino horn consumption in Asia, in partnership with African Wildlife Foundation, WildAid and Save the…

NANANGZHEN, China — China, the world’s biggest consumer of illegal ivory, crushed six tons of tusks and carved ornaments in public Monday, in an event that signaled it would do more to join global efforts to protect African elephants from rampant…

BEIJING — Once a rare delicacy served to honored guests, shark fin soup had become so popular among China’s fast-growing elite in recent years that it was pushing some shark species close to extinction. Now, there is fresh hope for sharks around the…