Elephants in the Chobe National Park in Botswana. Eighty-seven elephant carcasses were found in the country, months after it disarmed its anti-poaching unit. Charmaine Noronha/AP hide caption
elephant poaching elephant poaching
A Kenya Wildlife Services ranger stands guard in front illegal stockpiles of burning elephant tusks at the Nairobi National Park on April 30, 2016. Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Baby elephants are a welcome sight in Zakouma National Park in Chad. Thanks to stepped-up enforcement, the park hasn't lost an elephant to poachers since 2012. Without the stress of poaching, the elephants started breeding again and more than 40 calves have been born. Brent Stirton/Reportage by Getty Images for National Geographic Magazine hide caption
Louis E. Pratt, master ivory cutter for Pratt, Read & Co., shows off eight ivory tusks, April 1, 1955. Courtesy of Deep River Historical Society hide caption
Satao was a 45-year-old Kenyan elephant with tusks so long they brushed the ground. Poachers killed him in June with a poisoned arrow. African leaders gathered in Washington said there needs to be better cooperation on the continent to prevent poaching. Tsavo Trust hide caption
A photo released by the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal, shows Thai police officers examining the slain elephant. AP hide caption
Elephants in Kenya's Tsavo-east National Park earlier this year. Tony Karumba /AFP/Getty Images hide caption