Archaeological discoveries show the different options that have solved human problems over time.
An African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) in Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of the Congo.
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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.
Rosewood, the name for several endangered tree species that make beautiful furniture, being loaded in Madagascar.
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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.
African elephant in Kruger national park, South Africa.
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In large ecosystems, managing elephant populations so they don’t exceed a certain threshold number is arbitrary.
Mammoths went extinct tens of thousands of years ago, but trade in their ivory is threatening their living elephant cousins.
EPA/FREDERICK VON ERICHSEN
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?
Botswana has about 122,000 elephants left.
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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?
Police officers mark and register bundles of seized python skins in Linyi, Shandong province, China.
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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.