Geneva (AFP) - Hundreds of experts will gather in Geneva next week to discuss a "disturbing upswing" in the illegal wildlife trade, driven increasingly by ostentatious displays of wealth by the super-rich.
"We're seeing a shift from health to wealth... a significant shift away from (demand for) traditional uses associated with health to uses associated with wealth," said John Scanlon, head of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The rich increasingly like to show off, he said, by buying things like tiger wine -- made by dumping tiger carcasses into vats of rice wine -- while elephant ivory is increasingly seen as an investment by speculators.
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