Yahoo News 16 Jul 08;
Kenyan authorities on Wednesday detained three Chinese nationals at the country's main airport on suspicion of smuggling ivory, an official said.
"The three Chinese nationals -- two women and a man -- were arrested at the airport in Nairobi while in possession of 2.2 kilogrammes (4.8 pounds) of ivory," Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spokesman Gichuki Kabukuru told AFP.
"Since they did not have a permit, we take it as smuggling of ivory."
The trio, who had stayed in Kenya for four days, were en route to the Zimbabwean capital Harare, he added.
Poaching slashed Kenya's elephant population from nearly 50,000 in 1965 to about 10,600 in the early 1990s but conservation efforts and anti-poaching measures have seen numbers climb back up to around 30,000 today.
The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ban on the ivory trade in 1989 has also helped boost numbers.
