Shutting down EU ivory trade is a ‘personal priority’ for Boris Johnson

" An estimated 20-30,000 elephants are killed by poachers each year

" UK was world's largest legal ivory exporter between 2010 and 2015

A government minister has promised that the UK will lead a fight to shut down the ivory trade in the EU, describing the issue as "a personal priority" for the foreign secretary Boris Johnson.

Speaking at a conservation summit in Botswana, the Africa minister, Harriet Baldwin, said: "The UK will lead by example. We will be shutting down our ivory trade. We will be working with the EU to do the same. That is something we can do irrespective of whether we are in the European Union or not."