Poaching May Wipe Out Fifth of Africa’s Elephants, Groups Say

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-02/poaching-may-wipe-out-fifth-of-africa-s-elephants-groups-say.html


An elephant moves through the grasslands in Zakouma, Chad. An estimated 22,000 elephants were illegally killed in Africa in 2012.

Africa may lose a fifth of its elephants over the next decade if poaching continues at its current pace, animal conservation groups said.

An estimated 22,000 elephants were illegally killed in Africa in 2012, raising the prospect of “local extinctions,” the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, Traffic and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, said in a joint statement published online today. Poverty, weak regional governments and rising demand for illegal ivory are “key factors” behind an increase in poaching in recent years, the groups said.

Illicit trade in ivory rose to its highest level in at least 16 years in 2011 and has stayed at “unacceptably elevated levels” since, according to the statement.

Africa’s elephant population is about 500,000, according to IUCN data. The situation in central Africa, where poaching occurs at twice the continental average, is “particularly acute,” the groups said.