A WILTSHIRE woman is leading the fight against a new threat to Asian elephants being slaughtered for their skin.

Belinda Stewart-Cox has delivered a new report from the UK charity, Elephant Family, for which she is a trustee and acting Director of Conservation.

It was handed to an Asian Elephant Specialist Group meeting in Bangkok, which brought together 100 experts from 13 elephant range states, including China and Myanmar.

Belinda, 63, of Brixton Deverill in the Wylye Valley, has more than 30 years’ experience of elephant conservation in Thailand.

She said: “Asia’s elephant populations are increasingly fragmented and many are fragile. There only 30,000 to 50,000 left.

“A trade that targets any elephant of any age could spell disaster for small, poorly protected populations of this endangered, slow-breeding species.”

New evidence gathered in Myanmar and China by Elephant Family has revealed an alarming escalation in the illegal trade in Asian elephant skin.

The report, Skinned - The Growing Appetite for Asian Elephants, exposes the rise in poaching and those who are trading, promoting and profiting from elephant skin products.

Following the trade chain from Myanmar into China, the report highlights worrying evidence that suggests elephant skin products are being licensed for pharmaceutical use.

The charity has been investigating the illegal trade in Asian elephants for the past four years and has discovered a marked increase in poaching in Myanmar with 60 elephants killed last year.

The skins are being transported to China for use in traditional Chinese medicines and for creams to treat skin infections.