A new review of the status of African elephants finds scientific grounds for dividing them into two species, and reports that both have suffered drastic population declines since 1990.
For decades nations have worked to curb international sales of endangered plants and animals. But in countries like China, with high demand and speculative investors, that strategy fuels bidding wars.
Amid a growing human population, African elephants are confined to an increasingly managed existence. Do we want more for one of the world’s most loved species?
The destruction of a massive haul of illegal ivory was supposed to send a message to poachers and those who trade in the tusks. Did they notice, or can the ivory be used to help elephant conservation?
The idea that terror groups like Boko Haram fund their activities through ivory poaching in Africa is a compelling narrative. But it’s undermining wildlife conservation and human rights.
Zimbabwe are looking to resolve a debt to China by selling animals to them. But one of the concerns is that the elephants sold will eventually be farmed and their ivory harvested.