According to a report from Wenzhou customs earlier this week, all of the goods - 92 ivory products like statues, chopsticks, pipes, bracelets and necklaces and a piece of crocodile skin - were smuggled from Cameroon.

The illegal items were buried among other goods in two containers. The registered owner of the goods was questioned by the authorities as ivory and ivory products from Africa and skins of crocodiles from the Nile River are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

China adopted the convention in 1981.

Wenzhou customs found the local connection of the smuggling operation soon after the discovery of the items.

Protecting valuable or rare wild animals is a priority of Chinese forestry authorities, who have staged lasting campaigns to fight the illegal trade of wild animals, in addition to expanding their nature reserves.

"Cracking down on the transactions is essential as profit is always the motivating factor behind people capturing and killing wild animals," said Zhang Yun, an official with Beijing Forestry Bureau.

A week-long sting to find valuable or rare animals in Beijing has just been completed. Nearly 200 animals were uncovered by the bureau, which says most of them were going to end up on restaurant tables.

The forestry bureau has launched a campaign to target the illegal shooting, capture and poisoning of birds as they migrate across 14 provincial regions, such as Central China's Hunan Province and South China's Guangdong Province.

On Saturday in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, more than 1,340 wild birds and animals were seized as they were being transported out of the city.

A source with the administration said China was expected to implement a certificate system that requires people who want to transport or sell wild animals to get a special permit from the forestry authority.

(China Daily January 22, 2003)