The growing appetite for ivory means more elephants are being needlessly killed for their tusks.

In 2011, more than 5,000 tusks were seized worldwide, which represents the lives of 2,629 elephants.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species – known as CITES – will meet later this year to discuss the issue.

ITV News Africa Correspondent Rohit Kachroo reports from an elephant orphanage in Kenya that helps the babies the poachers leave behind:

Undercover at China’s ivory black market

Half of all illegal ivory ends up in China, where business is booming. In the past few years, the black market price of raw ivory has tripled.

As the economy there grows, so does the appetite for what is seen as a luxury item.

ITV News China Correspondent Angus Walker reports on Beijing’s ivory market.

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