Elephants under threat as trade in ivory, genitals, nipples booms

Elephants in Africa are under threat by a new boom in ivory trading. According to expert Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the spike is demand is being driven by China's rising affluence. Douglas-Hamilton said in Kenya, there were more elephants slaughtered for their tusks (and, weirdly, their genitals and nipples) in 2012 than any other on record. "The new wave of killing elephants in Africa is in many ways far graver than the crisis of the 1970s and '80s," he said. "Firstly, there are fewer elephants, and secondly, the demand for ivory is far higher." He estimates that 100 of the animals are killed on the continent each day. [Source]

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