North Korea is reportedly aggravating the thinning population of African rhinos and elephants with its growing involvement in the illegal trade of wildlife in Africa.

The Voice of America(VOA) on Thursday quoted a recent report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime(GITOC) as saying that the North’s increased trade of wildlife in Africa is putting further pressure on Africa’s endangered rhino and elephant populations.

The nonprofit organization pointed out that North Korean diplomats are increasingly resorting to the trafficking of wildlife from African nations as a source of cash to funnel into the Pyongyang regime amid increasing international sanctions on the North.

VOA quoted South African researcher Julian Rademeyer as saying that 18 out of 31 foreign diplomats arrested for smuggling ivory and rhino horns over the past 30 years were North Koreans. 

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