Hong Kong needs tougher laws to tackle wildlife crime say researchers

Hong Kong is thriving as a transnational wildlife smuggling hub because its laws are not strong enough to tackle organised crime running the lucrative trade, researchers said Friday. With its busy port and transport links, the semi-autonomous territory is a major transit point for illegal parts of endangered animals like elephants, rhinos and pangolins — most of it headed for consumers in mainland China. Record seizures have been made in recent…