COLOMBO, Jan. 4 -- Sri Lanka's leading wildlife experts and environmentalists on Thursday welcomed China's decision to ban ivory sales, saying all countries should follow China's example in order to save tuskers globally.

Leading Environmentalist and a member of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka, Vidya Abhayagunawardena told Xinhua that China's decision would safeguard elephants across the world.

"We invite other countries to follow China's example. Especially the East Asian countries as they believe that ivory brings prosperity," Abhayagunawardena said.

"This decision will affect Sri Lanka as our country is used as a hub by international wildlife traders. A ban in China will strongly be an advantage for us all," Abhayagunawardena added.

In January last year, Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to publicly destroy 356 blood ivories worth millions of U.S. dollars, which was seized in a ship at the Colombo Port in 2017.

Abhayagunawardena, who was in the forefront of organizing the event to burn the blood ivory, said the consignment had been detected by the Customs and was en-route to Dubai.

He said through the gesture, Sri Lanka has sent a strong message that it would not tolerate the killing of elephants.

Presently out of the total elephant population in Sri Lanka, only 5 percent are tuskers and these tuskers were under continuous threat from poachers and smugglers.

【国内英语资讯:Feature: Chinas ban on ivory sale should be followed by all: Sri Lankan wildlife experts】相关文章：

★ 欧元区危机：现实并不美好

★ 中国走近算法交易

★ 中国要求俄罗斯解释炮击中国渔船一事

★ 戴尔和惠普的如意算盘

★ 教育成本高昂拖累韩国经济发展

★ 盖特纳四年前已知Libor隐忧

★ 眼保健操开始：护眼穴位知多少？（视频）

★ 朝鲜火箭发射考验金正恩

★ 时尚圈的博主们

★ 美国市政债面临重大评级下调风险