PHNOM PENH: Wildlife traders have stockpiled large quantities of ivory in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia due to difficulties in transporting them to China.
A Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) report said that due to Covid-19 travel restrictions and border closings, traders have decided to keep the illegal items and transport them only when it was safe to do so.
The report said the pandemic had affected the Southeast Asian ivory retail markets that serve mainly Chinese clientele.
"While ivory markets have been on the rise in Cambodia and conversely declining in Laos, sellers in both countries are experiencing a dramatic fall in the number of Chinese customers due to travel restrictions.
"Intelligence indicates that batches of raw ivory are also being stashed in Cambodia. The apparent spread of ivory between Vietnam and Cambodia could mean it is being transported to Cambodia for carving and processing, which is plausible considering the recent rise in the number of ivory retail markets in Cambodia," it added.
The WJC report said recent missions to Phnom Penh established that Covid-19 was affecting the capital's ivory retail markets.
Tour guides and shop owners told WJC operatives that there are very few Chinese tourists and customers in the capital.
Many of them had gone back to China in late January for the Lunar New Year and had been unable to return due to travel restrictions and quarantine measures.
"If a lack of customers and market closures continue for a prolonged period, retailers may increase the online sale of wildlife products to continue doing business," the report said.
Ministry of Environment spokesman Neth Pheaktra told The Phnom Penh Post that if the wildlife commission had specific information regarding the stockpiling of ivory or other animal specimens it should cooperate with authorities to enforce the law.
Cambodia was committed to joining the fight against the illegal wildlife trade with the world, he said.
"Cambodian authorities have seized rhinoceros horns and carved products made from ivory that were illegally imported into the country and exported to other countries.
"From 2016 to late 2018, thousands of ivory and rhino horns weighing more than five tonnes were seized by authorities. Also, pangolin scales and other wildlife bones were seized as well," he said.
Pheaktra said the ministry had notified 59 souvenir business owners, of which 27 are in the capital, 30 in Siem Reap, and two in Sihanoukville, about the suspected selling of horns and ivory and trading in other forms of wildlife and they were required to stop their illegal activities immediately.