Poaching threatens African elephants 偷猎威胁非洲大象的生存

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《国际濒危物种贸易公约》委员会（英文缩写为 CITES）说偷猎行为和非法象牙交易有增不减。在最新报告中，CITES 警告说，为了获取象牙而偷猎的情况已经造成了非洲大象的生存面临非常严峻的威胁。 请听 Imogen Foulkes 为 BBC 发回的报道。

20,000 elephants were illegally killed in Africa last year, the report shows. That figure far exceeds the growth rate of the elephant population. In some regions of Africa elephants are threatened with extinction.

The report also documents a clear increase in the number of large seizures - amounts of over 500 kg - of ivory in Africa. For the first time there were more such seizures in Africa than in Asia, an indication, the report suggests, of the involvement of transnational organised crime in the illegal ivory trade.

And while elephant conservationists do believe that increased ivory confiscation is a sign that law enforcement is improving, they also point out that demand for ivory remains very high, and that even in some of the monitored elephant populations, poaching is actually increasing.