Headed for extinction?

• Position: NEWS & TRENDS - African elephants - Brief article

Tens of thousands of African elephants are being slaughtered illegally each year for their ivory tusks, which can fetch up to $1,000 a pound on the black market. In Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, poachers recently shot 22 elephants from a helicopter before fleeing with a huge stack of ivory. Up to 70 percent of the ivory ends up in China, where it's used to make everything from chopsticks to jewelry. Africa's elephant population totaled 600,000 in 2006 but has since declined...