If you think you had a bad year, spare a thought for Africa’s elephants. They are being killed in ever greater numbers for their ivory, which is smuggled these days mostly to Asia. Rising wealth has led to a boom in demand there in recent years.

Reuters

The 13 largest hauls of ivory intercepted by customs officials around the world in 2011 weighed in at a combined 23 tons, probably taken from more than 2,500 slain elephants, according to Traffic, an international organization that monitors wildlife trade.

The year “has truly been a horrible year for elephants,” Tom Milliken, Traffic’s elephant expert, said in a press release detailing the organization’s preliminary findings for 2011.

Once the records of hundreds of smaller ivory seizures are included, 2011 could well prove to be the worst year for elephants since officials began keeping global data on ivory trafficking 23 years ago, Traffic said.

As I report at greater length here, much the same can be said about other rare and endangered animal and plant species.

Despite efforts by enforcement agencies and campaigners, overall demand shows no sign of abating. Smuggling rare creatures for use as pets, food, decoration or their (often disputed) medicinal benefits is a profitable business.

Mr. Milliken said most of the illegal shipments of African elephant ivory end up in China or Thailand.

The rise in the ivory trade reflects the growing sophistication of the gangs behind the trafficking, he said. Given that most large-scale ivory seizures fail to result in any arrests, he added, “I fear the criminals are winning.”