African Elephants Could Go Extinct in a Decade

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In the Africa Elephant Summit currently taking place in Botswana, conservationists presented new alarming figures about elephants showing that due to the current number of animals being poached, they could go extinct in the next 10 years.

“This species could be extinct in our lifetime, within one or two decades, if the current trend continues,” stated Dune Ives, senior researcher at Vulcan, a philanthropic organization run by US billionaire Paul Allen. “In five years we may have lost the opportunity to save this magnificent and iconic animal.”

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, between 2006 and 2013 the elephant population has declined from 550,000 to 470,000 and in East Africa their numbers have gone from 150,000 to 100,000.

Delegates from around 20 countries attended the summit, including China, which was publicly blamed for those declining numbers since that’s where a lot of the ivory products made with those illegally poached tusks are sold.

“The elephant’s future is entirely dependant on persuading The Chinese (and to a lesser extend other Far Eastern countries such as Thailand and Vietnam) to end this illegal trade in what only rich people buy and nobody needs,” said Brian Jackman, Telegraph Travel’s safari expert, agreeing with the sentiment expressed by Tshekedi Khama, Botswanan minister of tourism and wildlife. “There are encouraging signs that the message is finally getting through, but it is going to be touch and go for Africa’s steadily dwindling herds.”

Another important factor according to Kenyan wildlife expert Jonathan Scott is for people to support the protection of the animals through tourism. Actual tourism, that is, not hunting.

“The bottom line is this: if we abandon tourism, we abandon conservation,” said Scott. “When people ask me, ‘How can we help?’ we say: ‘By taking a safari.’ Wildlife-based tourism is not a choice but a necessity. It pays the bills that keep the game parks and their wildlife secure. Without the tourist dollars you might as well hand over all the remaining wildlife to the poachers.”

We know where we’re vacationing next!