Chinese demand risks wiping out elephants

Poaching is inflicting unsustainable losses on African elephants, with more than 33,600 animals killed each year between 2010 and 2012, a study has shown.

Over that period alone an estimated 6.8% of the continent’s elephant population was wiped out by the illegal ivory trade, say scientists.

In central Africa, the worst affected region, poaching led to a 63.7% fall in elephant numbers between 2002 and 2012.