Myanmar is believed to have the second largest elephant population in the world after India, with an estimated 6,000 left in the wild.Cambridge-based wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC and Oxford Brookes University have accused Myanmar of failing to protect elephants, after finding more than 3,300 ivory pieces and nearly 50 raw ivory elephant tusks, openly for sale in the Myanmar town of Mong La on the Chinese border.

Tucked into the verdant forests of Myanmar’s eastern Shan State, Mong La is better known here by its Chinese name, Xiaomengla, in part because the vast majority of its residents are Chinese, as are most of the illegal daytrippers, drug mules and youngsters who work in the city’s 20 casinos, most of which are Chinese-owned.It has now become one of the biggest unregulated markets for ivory and endangered wildlife in Asia.Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), Myanmar has laws forbidding trade in endangered species, but violations are rampant, especially in remote border regions.

As the current Chair of ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN), a regional inter agency and inter-governmental initiative to counter the illegal cross-border trade in endangered plants and animals, Myanmar would be looked to set an example by putting an end to illegal trading in ivory.

Analysts say that China must also play its part too in helping the authorities in Myanmar carry out this essential enforcement action.