Poaching slows but Africa's elephants still face extinction
The illegal slaughter of African elephants to feed Asia's demand for ivory has decreased by more than half in eight years. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
On current trends, the African elephant is in danger of being "virtually wiped out", surviving only in small, heavily protected pockets, he said.
A century ago up to 12 million of the world's heaviest land animal roamed the continent.
Today, they number about 500,000, if forest elephants -- a sub-species -- are included.
The illegal slaughter of African elephants to feed Asia's demand for ivory has decreased by more than half in eight years, but the majestic mammals are still threatened with extinction, researchers warned Tuesday.
In 2011, poachers killed some 40,000 tuskers -- about ten percent of the continent's population, according to figures from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), based in Geneva.
