China’s desire for exotic animals, tastes and products will probably push wild elephants, rhinos, pangolins and many other species to extinction within the next 10 to 15 years. This trade is destabilising many African countries as poachers, armed by organised criminal syndicates, outgun security forces, loot villages and decimate animal populations. Their bloody haul is mostly transported by Asian agents who bribe officials and undermine the security of national states. We begin in the lawless, drug-soaked jungles of Asia’s Golden Triangle.In the jungle along the Mekong River is a palatial casino named Kings Romans where you can order freshly killed bear cub steak, grilled pangolin, tiger penis or gecko fillet, and wash it all down with wine matured in a vat containing lion bones.The shop offers rhino horn libation cups and bracelets; or, for more conventional tastes, religious sculptures and jewellery made from poached African ivory. After a night at the gambling tables, you can p...
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