AFRICAN elephants could become extinct within decades unless poaching is halted, British campaigners warned yesterday. The Born Free Foundation said an elephant is being killed every 25 minutes to feed the illegal trade in ivory, treasured in the Far East for its alleged medical properties.
About 201,000 elephants have been poached in the past six years.
In the past century the population plunged from five million elephants to fewer than 500,000.
Yet the animals, among the noblest on the planet, are vital for the environment, spreading plant seeds, digging for water which helps other species and modifying landscapes by uprooting trees.
Charity founder Virginia McKenna, 87, who starred in the hit 1966 movie Born Free, said: “Elephants are living treasures.
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