KAMPALA, Dec. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Uganda is to intensify efforts of cracking down on illegal trade in elephant ivory following the acquisition of ivory detectors early this month.

    According to a Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) statement quoted by local press on Wednesday, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF), which is also referred to as "Interpol for wildlife"early this year worked with the United Nations Environment Program to purchase 15 ivory detectors that were recently distributed to the LATF member states: Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville).

    The acquisition of the detectors is part of the capacity building offered at a time when east and central African countries are considered a main route for illegal ivory exports.

    According to the statement, two senior law enforcement officials under the UWA have been trained in Nairobi, Kenya to detect ivory in any form.

    The statement also added that the two officials were trained in using the detectors to trace ivory in concealed places, containers under water and under the ground.

    The machines, worth 5,000 US dollars each, can detect substances up to a distance of 500 meters and a depth of 15 meters.

    According to UWA, the detectors will be used at Entebbe International Airport, as well as various check points like the central internal container depots and the country's border posts.

    Uganda has lost hundreds of kg of elephant ivory in illegal trade. Early this month, a large consignment of elephant ivory alleged from Uganda was impounded in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines.

    Elephants are categorized as endangered species and trade in such species is prohibited.

    The elephant population in Uganda has increased from 500 to about 4,000 in the last two decades, according to wildlife sources. Enditem