The World Wildlife Fund stated this week that poachers in southeast Cameroon have killed 28 forest elephants that could be extinct in the next decade or so according to Reuters.
With the demand for ivory rising in Asia, poachers have decided to start hunting elephants in Africa. The forest elephant population has declined by 62 percent since 2003, meaning the animal could be completely extinct 10 years from now.
"Elephants in these two protected areas in the Congo Basin are facing a threat to their existence," said Zacharie Nzooh, WWF Cameroon representative in the East Region to Reuters.
From Feb. 10 through Mar. 1, the WWF found 23 elephant carcasses, with their tusks removed, deep in the Nki national park according to Nzooh.
Another five were located at Lobeke national park which is a little further east.
"The poachers used automatic weapons, such as AK-47s, reflecting the violent character of elephant poaching," Nzooh said according to Reuters.
The forest elephant has straighter tusks than that of its smaller African cousin. Unless something is done about the poachers, Cameroon's forest elephant population, which experts predict are around 2,000 now, could completely disappear according to Nzooh.
Ivory sells for "hundreds of dollars per kilogram" in Asia on the black market. Ivory is mostly smuggled out of the country and into Asia, especially places like China where it can be turned into jewelry.
This past December, Cameroon decided to ship out military helicopters and 600 soldiers equipped with night vision gear to try to protect the park and its wildlife according to Reuters.
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