Record poaching drives African elephants into decline.

Geneva - Killing of elephants driven by the illegal ivory trade has reached crisis levels in Africa, new information released today says. Across Africa elephants are being driven into decline due to poaching for their tusks, according to a report issued under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Data from the report shows increased poaching across the entire range of the African elephant, but the highest rates are in Central Africa. “The rise in levels of illegal killing and the dynamics surrounding it are worrying, not only for small and fragmented elephant populations that could face extirpation, but also for previously secure large populations,” the report says.

www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2012/WWFPresitem28206.html