Ivory poaching

Poachers in Congo have killed a fifth of the elephants in Africa's oldest national park this year as China buys more ivory, the park's director said. The 790,000-hectare reserve was home to one of central Africa's largest Savannah elephant herds in the 1970s numbering around 5,000.

But a brutal 1998-2003 war, heavy poaching, corruption and mismanagement of the park have taken a heavy toll. Today conservationists believe no more than 300 elephants remain.

China, among the world's main destinations for illegal ivory, was granted permission last month to buy 108 tonnes of ivory stocks from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Mr De Merode singled out China's growing appetite for ivory as one of the root causes of this year's increase in elephant killings, as poachers attempt to launder their illegal ivory for legitimate sale.

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This makes me really mad, as WHY do people kill these beautiful animals for just a little piece of them, transport this to China where a thriving industry turns it into tourist trinkets for export to Japan, the Middle East, Europe and the United States?????????