A close view of an elephant carcass near Zakouma National Park shows that the face was removed—evidence that the animal was killed by poachers for its tusks. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) estimates that poachers kill 4,000 elephants each year.
Both male and female African elephants have tusks, which are elongated teeth that can grow to up to 9.8 feet (3 meters) long. Before trade bans were put in place, demand for ivory was so great that elephant populations plummeted from an estimated 1.3 million animals in 1970 to just 600,000 in 1989.
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