Ivory Poaching At Critical Levels: Elephants On Path To Extinction By 2020?

African elephants are being slaughtered for their ivory at a pace unseen since an international ban on the ivory trade took effect in 1989. But the public outcry that resulted in that ban is absent today, and a University of Washington conservation biologist contends it is because the public seems to be unaware of the giant mammals’ plight.

The elephant death rate from poaching throughout Africa is about 8 percent a year based on recent studies, which is actually higher than the 7.4 percent annual death rate that led to the international ivory trade ban nearly 20 years ago, said Samuel Wasser, a UW biology professor.

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Tagged as: African Elephants, Animals, Biology, Elephants, International Trade, Ivory, Ivory Trade, Mammals, Samuel Wasser