The African elephant, the largest remaining land mammal on the planet, is facing the greatest crisis in decades. Reports of mass elephant killings in the media vividly illustrate the situation across many African elephant range States. This Rapid Response Assessment provides an overview of the current state of the African elephant alongside recommendations for action to ensure its protection.
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Surges in poaching, the illegal ivory trade and accelerating habitat and range loss have put African elephant populations at risk. This Rapid Response Assessment provides an overview of the status of elephants, poaching and illegal ivory trafficking along the entire ivory trade supply chain.
Findings presented here were obtained from a range of sources, including The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) Programme, the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), the IUCN/SSC African Ele phant Specialist Group (AfESG), the African and Asian Ele phant Database, the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), expert consultations and a range of other sources.
On the very last day of the conference, an agreement was made on concrete actions to be made by a group of eight countries identified as the worst offenders in the illegal ivory trade chain. These countries include the supply states Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda; the consumer states China and Thailand; and the transit countries Malaysia, Viet Nam and the Philippines. According to this agreement, the countries are committed to quickly develop national ivory action plans and to take urgent measures to implement and report on these plans.
Launch of the report at COP 16 of CITES in Bangkok, Thailand, 06 March 2012