Elephant poaching: 100,000 African elephants were killed within 3 years for ivory

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that the hunt for ivory has seen more than 100,000 elephants in Africa die at the hands of poachers in just three years.
The rate of illegally killed elephants has risen from 25 percent of all deaths ten years ago to 65 percent today while only about 500,000 elephants remain in Africa.

Co-author of the study George Wittemyer pointed out that a male elephant with two full tusks can be worth $10,000 to a poacher as male tusks are bigger and worth more.
Growing demand for ivory in China and other Asian countries has driven the price of ivory up on the black market.
The potential earnings lead to more illegal elephant poaching in Africa. In countries such as China and Vietnam, elephant parts are used as trophies, in food, or medicine.

The highest elephant death rate is in central Africa, where the population has dropped by 64 percent in ten years. Tanzania and Kenya in East Africa are not far behind, while the population in Botswana is holding steady or growing.
Elephant births increase the population by 5 percent annually, while the population decreased by an average of 7 percent each year from 2010 through 2013. It means there are more elephant are being killed than are being born.
Researchers warn that If the rate of poaching continues, the animals will be extinct within 100 years.