10/02/2014 Newsround

however, there are new leaders in the form of Chelsea. So, for the

special one, it's number one. Good Monday morning to you. This is

Newsround with me, Ricky. On the brekkie menu today. We join the dogs

on the front line sniffing out wildlife crime. And brooms at the

ready. Britain's curling team are in action in Sochi.

But first, 16 severe flood warnings, which mean a risk to life, are now

in place across England. A wide stretch of the River Thames has

reached its highest water level for more than 20 years, threatening

thousands of homes. Berkshire and Surrey are the worst affected. The

Army and the Navy have been called in to help build defences to try to

divert the water away from populated areas. And parts of the River Severn

in Shropshire and Worcestershire are at the highest levels for seven

years. Forecasters say today will be the driest day of the week, but

rivers could continue to rise as rainfall works its way downstream.

Over in Australia they are battling dozens of bushfires sweeping across

the south of the country. More than 1,000 firefighters are tackling the

blazes in the state of Victoria. The fires are being fanned by hot

weather and strong winds. Many residents have been ordered to leave

their homes and at least 20 houses have been destroyed in the worst

conditions since a very serious fire in 2009. Next, Prince William and

his Dad Prince Charles have made a video calling for an end to the

illegal wildlife trade. A big meeting takes place this week where

world leaders will try to work out how to stop the crime. Campaigners

say hunting animals like elephants and rhino has reached an all-time

high and many endangered species are at risk of extinction. In the UK,

the Border Force is in charge of stopping criminals from illegally

transporting endangered plants and animals in and out of the country

and we sent Nel to spend a day with them. London Heathrow is one of the

busiest airports in the world. Every day, almost 200,000 passengers

passed through its gates jetting off to countries across the globe. Many

will be asked on the holidays, a small number are using airports to

illegally transport endangered plants and animals in and out of the

country. This is a detective dog trained to smell for any plants and

animals illegally hidden in any number of these bags or suitcases.

What kind of stuff is a finding which is important to the country?

He's looking for a rhino horn, ivory, tortoise is,, that's what is

trying to look for and when it's there, hopefully, you will find it.

How do you know the something in the bag? His body language will change.

He will freeze and look directly for me because I'm the one who would

give him the reward. When he's found something illegal, what happens

next? We informed the team and they investigate the background and where

it's come from and whether it's illegal or not. Last year the border

Force made more than 690 seasons, including 326 ivory items. And 93

live animals. We have got the skin of a cat which comes from South

America. We have got the skin of a place in, a very large snake, and

ivory, a tooth from hippopotamus, and wood from trees which is now

endangered. How bad is it? The trafficking is massive. A thousand

rhinos poached last year. There is only 20,000 left in the world. An

elephant is slaughtered in Africa every 15 how bad it is. It's a

major, major moment in the world for that we have to do something now.

The illegal trade in wildlife is a growing problem here and abroad and

later this week, Prince William will be speaking at an event in London to

some of the world's leaders in the hope they can come together to draw

up plans to better protect some of the world's most endangered species

from the threat of extinction. And, as you heard from Radzi, Man

United's terrible season goes from bad to worse after they failed to

win at home again. Darren Bent scored a late equaliser for

bottom-placed Fulham, leaving David Moyes's side nine points adrift of

the Champions League places. Sticking with sport as we head into

day three of the Winter Olympics and Great Britain's curlers are in

action. In the past few minutes, they have beaten the host, Russia,

7-4. The women's team will play Sweden at 10am. Go girls. And head

to the website to find out what action you should be looking out for

in Sochi today. Britain's speed skaters are in action later on.

That's all from me. Newsround's back right here in about half an hour.

Bye bye.