ACTION should be taken to crack down on safari tours geared towards hunting wild - and sometimes endangered - animals such as elephants and rhinoceroses, a Gwent MP has said.

Earlier this week the UK Government passed new legislation that would ban the sales of most forms of ivory in the UK, with the new rules intended to come into force next year.

And, speaking during a debate on the plans in Parliament, Islwyn MP Chris Evans said, while he supported the bill, he would like to see action go further.

"I think everybody would say that it is just a step in the right direction and there is still a huge amount of work to do," he said.

"We know about legal trophy hunting, and I would like the government to clamp down on individuals who are still offering tours on safari to take out these wonderful beasts."

Saying "there is an imperative on our generation to stop this", the Labour MP continued: "I had the misfortune once of meeting somebody who said 'my daughter’s into hunting, you should see what she’s taken down', and showed me sick photos of bloodied beautiful bears and lions that she had killed in the Serengeti and elsewhere in Africa.

"That has to stop, and I hope that the government will look again at this issue."

Mr Evans also said he hoped the government would consider extending an ivory ban to apply to other types of 'trophys' from other wild and endangered animals, such as whales.

"I hope that they will create a real stigma around trophy hunters, so that when people show trophy hunting pictures others will find them sick and distressing," he said. "I am picking on Americans here, but I have seen elected officials with pictures on their walls of hunts that they have taken part in.

"That has to stop.

"I hope the government will also recognise that this trade is bringing about criminality and mafia practices.

"I hope that this is just the start of a wider debate, that the consultation will be short and that the government will bring forward extra legislation very soon to ban trophy hunting and the companies that send people on hunting tours."

The elephant ivory ban may be extended to cover other animals such as hippos and walruses.