Prince William joins with Angry Birds to issue plea to stop illegal poaching

The Duke of Cambridge has made an impassioned plea to stop illegal poaching in a message to launch a new version of the Angry Birds game highlighting the outlawed trade.

William warned the "illegal slaughter of tens of thousands of animals" is pushing species "to the brink of extinction" and bankrolling criminal and terrorist gangs.

In his message the Duke said: "It may sound trivial set against other world problems, but it is an important part of the jigsaw - and it is one that you can do something about. There is evidence that poaching funds criminal gangs, even terrorist organisations, and it deprives ancient communities of their heritage and livelihoods."

Prince William's message was recorded to launch an online tournament of a new Angry Birds game which features animated Pangolins - a species of scaly ant-eaters and one of the world's most endangered animals.

The game, called 'Roll With The Pangolins', has been launched with Angry Birds creators Rovio Entertainment.

Any of the estimated 200 million Angry Bird players worldwide can log in to play the game, which has been created with William's United for Wildlife charity.

United for Wildlife officials hope the huge popularity of the game, particularly in Asia, will help their anti-poaching message reach millions.