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| Masai Mara elephant family, credit: US Person |
In the worst poaching atrocity since the 1980's a Kenyan elephant family of 11 members was slaughtered for their ivory. The dead included a two month old baby. Kenya Wildlife Services said the ten poachers where armed with AK-47s and an assortment of guns. Rangers are pursuing the gang but so far they have not been apprehended or killed. A kilogram of ivory can bring $2500 on the black market as Asian demand for ivory increases despite widespread efforts to stop the illegal trade. Ivory trade has been outlawed since 1989 when elephant populations plummeted from the millions in mid-century to only 600,000 by the 1980s. It is estimated 472,000 elephants still live in Africa. A head ranger said speculators often try to stockpile ivory in advance of a CITES meeting, betting the international organization will lift the ban on trading in ivory. The Convention is scheduled to meet in March.
