Duke Of Cambridge Speaks On Illegal Wildlife Trade For Chinese Television

The Duke of Cambridge has delivered a speech on Chinese television on the urgent work needed to combat the illegal wildlife trade.

His Royal Highness’s speech, filmed at the Maughan Library at King’s College London, will air on CCTV1 – the station with the largest audience in China – as part of a series of programmes called Let’s Talk.

The Duke is grateful to have this opportunity to explain how people around the world must work together to save some of the planet’s most critically endangered species before they are lost forever. His Royal Highness considers this issue an important test for his generation’s ability to solve the much more complex global challenges it will face in the decades to come.

The Duke raised this issue with the President of China when they met in Bejing earlier this year and has been encouraged by China’s willingness to play its part in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade.

Before filming his speech, in front of a studio-style audience of around 80 King’s College London students and guests, The Duke of Cambridge met other participants in the programme – Sir David Attenborough, Yao Ming and Bear Grylls.

Also today, the Duke of Cambridge attended the signing of a memorandum to help rangers fight poaching in Africa.

The Duke was present as the Leading Chinese firm Sanpower joined United for Wildlife to support rangers in the fight against poaching in Africa.

The Royal Foundation, United For Wildlife, of whom The Duke is President, and Sanpower will work together in the fight against the poaching of iconic species including elephants, rhinoceros, big cats and pangolins in Africa and the trafficking of animal body parts across borders. The unprecedented rise in the illegal wildlife trade has caused the slaughter of tens of thousands of endangered animals – 20% of the African elephant population has been killed in the last three years alone.