Elephant Tusks and Ivory Products/Courtesy USFWS

National Public Radio’s John Burnett traveled to Tanzania to see firsthand how poachers are slaughtering elephants in record numbers, most likely for export to Southeast Asia where there is an enthusiastic market for religious objects and trinkets carved from ivory. Current estimates are that 10,000 elephants across Africa are being slaughtered annually for their tusks. Tanzania is requesting approval from CITES to sell its 100-ton ivory reserve and lower the restrictions on elephant hunting. Lifelong elephant conservationist Iain Douglas-Hamilton points out, “”There’s no protection in numbers for elephants any more than there was for bison in last century when they were all wiped out in America. So people shouldn’t kid themselves.”

• Two-part story (same day both parts) on Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
• Read the Green News Update story  Elephant Slaughter is On