DHAKA: The rapid growth in the illegal killing of African elephants seen since 2006 seems to have stabilized and may be decreasing.

Two new reports indicate that across the continent, the numbers of elephants being killed for ivory has slowed, BBC reports on Thursday (July 28).

But the picture is mixed as the slaughter in Central and West Africa shows no sign of moderating.

Some experts believe that the decline in deaths could be down to fewer elephants being alive to poach.

The BBC investigated the war on elephants earlier this year and how it is fuelled by demand for ivory from Asia.

Now there is new data on the sources of the illegal killings from the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, better known as Cites.

They run two important elephant monitoring records that are seen as reliable indicators of what’s happening on the ground.

BDST: 1946 HRS, JUL 28, 2016
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