Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo have seized a rare baby gorilla from traffickers at an airport who hid it under clothes in the bottom of a bag, wildlife officials said on Tuesday.

A Kenyan and a Tanzanian pleaded guilty on Monday to illegal possession of ivory after being caught with hundreds of kilos of elephant tusks in one of east Africa's biggest seizures for years.

The two men were driving a car loaded with 512 kg (1,129 lbs) of tusks when they were arrested in Kenya on Saturday, 50 km (30 miles) from the Tanzanian border.

Forest elephants in Cameroon and the Congo Basin could be extinct within 10 years without measures to fight the illegal ivory trade and curb habitat loss, a WWF official said in an interview.

During the last 40 years, environmentalists estimate the forest elephant population has fallen 75 percent, standing at some 140,000 for the Congo Basin and 13,000-15,000 for Cameroon.

Environment ministers from major rich and developing nations signed a deal on Friday to try to slow species loss, but failed to make progress in crucial climate change talks despite US pledges of commitment.

Almost every country in the world in 2002 agreed to a "significant reduction" in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, but scientists say extinctions are gathering pace.

The WorldWide Funds for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) has expressed its grave concerns over illegal import of White tigers and conversion of the green areas in Karachi into industrial areas. According to an official here on Thursday, a meeting of WWF-P Board was held on April 18 at the Qarshi Industries, Hattar.

More of Indonesia's critically endangered orangutans are being caught for the pet trade now than in the 1970s, reflecting the country's weak law enforcement, a wildlife protection group said in a report published on Thursday.

Pakistan is deficient in forest resources, as only 5 percent of total geographical area of the country is under forest cover and that, too, is under pressure due to various factors, including use of forest lands for non-forestry purposes and illegal logging.

A man was arrested on Tuesday in Lahore city by the Punjab Wildlife and Parks Department for illegally capturing and trading wild lizard species. According to a World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P)s spokesman, Khushi Muhammad, a local belonging to Lahore, was arrested when over a dozen protected spiny tail lizards were found in his possession.

A United States Border Patrol agent who tried to import 15 rare Tanzanian leopard tortoises in a box labeled

Previous studies demonstrated that the trade in marine turtle products in Viet Nam was threatening local populations. Hawksbill turtles, which comprise most of the illegal trade in Viet Nam, have traditionally been exploited primarily for their shell and there has never been a significant international trade in other products from this species.

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