A major and deeply significant development and on Endangered species day! 🩶
The Chinese Embassy in Laos has now publicly issued an official warning to Chinese tourists travelling to Laos, specifically warning them against purchasing wildlife products including rhino horn, ivory, pangolin scales, bear bile, and other illegal wildlife products.
This has never happened before!!!!!!
The statement warns tourists that many wildlife products being sold in Laos are fake and financially exploitative, but more importantly, that purchasing genuine wildlife products is illegal under both Lao and Chinese law, carrying serious criminal consequences.
The embassy specifically warns that:
“Buying fake products leads to financial loss, buying real ones leads to breaking the law.”
It also states that criminal groups are using “VIP tours,” “discount tours,” and “free tours” to funnel tourists into illegal wildlife trade networks disguised as legitimate cultural or shopping experiences.
The notice explains that many so-called rhino horn, ivory, and bear bile products are counterfeit, often made from resin, buffalo horn, or pig bile, sold at massively inflated prices. But crucially, it adds that if the products are genuine, the trade itself constitutes a criminal offence under international conventions and Chinese law.
The embassy explicitly references pangolin scales, rhino horn, elephant ivory, and bear products, stating that their sale, transport, possession, and consumption are prohibited.
Thanks to an enormous amount of hard work happening behind the scenes by many trafficking organisations, investigators, conservationists, whistleblowers, journalists, and activists fighting the illegal wildlife trade, including the work of
@hongxiang77 and our campaigns through
@africansafariconservation , this is finally beginning to happen.
For years, these networks operated openly and almost without consequence.
Now, public pressure, investigations, evidence gathering, media attention, and growing awareness are beginning to force acknowledgment at official levels.
More coming soon from investigations we are uncovering soon!
@hongxiang77
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@pangolincrf 🩶 #savepangolins
