An environmental summit at a Botswana game reserve’s heard the African elephant could be extinct in the wild within a few decades.

Their host’s saying the gathering of delegates from 20 countries is about getting high-level political commitments to significantly reduce the killing of elephants.

The summit in Kasane’s heard of an alarming decline in
elephant numbers due to poaching for ivory.

The species could be extinct within one or two decades if the trend continues.

Latest figures from the International Union for
Conservation of Nature, show that the African elephant population has dropped from 550 000 in 2006 to       470 000 in 2013.
East Africa has seen the worst decline, from 150 000 to about 100 000.

Accused of fuelling ivory trade, China’s represented in Botswana along with other Asian delegates and those from Africa and Europe.

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