Unfortunately yes, elephants are endangered. The problem of extinction of elephants is very urgent in the modern world. A conference dedicated to this issue was recently held in the capital of Burkina Faso. Experts from 12 West African countries discussed ways to protect this “African wealth”.
The main reason for the general disappearance of elephants is poaching. The conference called on the governments of West African countries to launch an intensified fight against poachers.
Elephants are an integral part of the culture of West African peoples. On the emblems of many countries there is an image of an elephant or ivory. Scientists consider the situation to be alarming for the elephant population in West Africa. Only in the last 25 years of the 20th century, about 90% of all elephants in this part of the world were destroyed. Now, according to experts, more than six thousand elephants live in this area, which is 2% of the total number of elephants in Africa.
Also, a serious problem is the cutting down of large areas of forest for agricultural land, in which a constant deficit is experienced.
It seems that nature itself stands up for the protection of elephants. So, in recent times, there have become more frequent cases of the birth of little elephants, devoid of tusks. But it is because of them that they are avaricious miners and they kill good-natured giants. Almost a hundred years ago, in the Uganda national park, out of a hundred elephants, only one was deprived of tusks. Now for every one hundred there are up to 13 such “lucky ones”.
