Ivory trade

Poachers have killed at least six elephants in a single day in Ethiopia, wildlife officials said on Tuesday, the largest such slaughter in memory in the east African nation.
The elephants died last week, when they ventured out of the Mago National Park in the far south of Ethiopia to drink water, Ganabul Bulmi, the park's chief warden, told reporters.

An unregulated ivory market, expansion of human settlements and issues of governance in many African countries are hitting the population of elephants.

Britain will ban sales of ivory in a bid to help preserve the world's dwindling elephant population, the government announced April 3.

A world-renowned ivory investigator whose detailed reports contributed to the fight against elephant poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, was killed at his home in Kenya, police said on Feb. 5.

China’s complete ban on ivory trade went into effect on Dec. 31, officials said, a major step forward in Beijing’s efforts to rein in what was once the world’s largest market for illegal ivory.

Thailand destroyed more than two tons of ivory on Aug. 26 - a victory for animal rights groups fighting against the trade in a country renowned for being a hub for illegal tusks.

China destroyed more than six hundred kilograms of ivory in front of media and diplomats May 29, as it seeks to shed its image as a global trading hub for illegal elephant tusks.

Poachers have killed nearly half of Mozambique?s elephants for their ivory in the past five years, the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said on May 26.

A Mozambique government-backed survey showed a dramatic 48 percent decline in elephant numbers from just over 20,000 to an estimated 10,300, the WCS said in a statement.

Poachers slaughtering Africa's elephants and rhinos with impunity are often shielded from police by powerful connections, but a group of conservationists has turned to the anonymity of tip-offs to try to stem the killing.