Prince Charles calls for war on animal poachers [View all]

[wtmusic]

"Prince Charles has warned that criminal gangs are turning to animal poaching, an unprecedented slaughter of species that can only be stopped by waging war on the perpetrators, in the latest of a series of increasingly outspoken speeches about the environment.

Addressing a conference of conservationists at St James's Palace in London, the Prince of Wales announced a meeting of heads of state to take place this autumn in London under government auspices to combat what he described as an emerging, militarised crisis.

'We face one of the most serious threats to wildlife ever, and we must treat it as a battle – because it is precisely that,' said Charles. 'Organised bands of criminals are stealing and slaughtering elephants, rhinoceros and tigers, as well as large numbers of other species, in a way that has never been seen before. They are taking these animals, sometimes in unimaginably high numbers, using the weapons of war – assault rifles, silencers, night-vision equipment and helicopters.'"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/21/prince-charles-war-animal-poachers