20% of Africa's elephants could be killed within a decade

Up to a fifth of Africa’s elephants could be killed in the next 10 years if illegal poaching continues at the current rate, according to new figures revealed at the opening of a summit on the animals’ future.

An estimated 22,000 elephants were illegally killed across Africa in 2012, slightly lower than the 25,000 elephants poached in 2011, a report by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or Cites, told the Botswana conference.