African elephants under continued threat of poaching, warns UN-backed report.

An updated assessment by a United Nations Environment Programme-administered treaty has confirmed that poaching continues to threaten the long-term survival of the African elephant.

Based on the Proportion of Illegally Killed Elephants data, or PIKE, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has evaluated the levels of illegal killing through MIKE, the acronym for the Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants programme.

MIKE has calculated that illegal killing is the chief cause of death for elephants.

Evidence reveals that PIKE levels peaked in 2011 when an alarming 10 per cent of African elephants were poached, before steadily declining through 2017. That level has remained relatively unchanged throughout 2018.

Such high PIKE levels are of concern because even in well-established and protected elephant populations, the annual losses to illegal killing and other mortalities are not being compensated by birth rates.

We must continue to reduce poaching and illegal trade in ivory

CITES chief Ivonne Higuero

Many African elephant populations are small and fragmented and not well-protected, making them even more vulnerable to poaching. As PIKE levels remain above 0.5 in Africa, the number of elephants in some countries continues to decline.

African elephant populations have fallen from an estimated 12 million a century ago, to some 400,000, according to the most recent estimations contained in the 2016 African...