On April 29th, the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, addressed the inaugural meeting of the Giants Club Summit, a conference held near Mount Kenya that is devoted to combatting the accelerated destruction of Africa’s elephants. Soaring ivory prices have led to the slaughter of at least a hundred thousand elephants in recent years; perhaps only four hundred thousand African elephants remain. Scientists and conservationists are talking with increasing frequency about the possibility of extinction in the wild. “It is important to appreciate the wider dimension of the poaching of elephants,” Kenyatta told the gathering, which included several other African heads of state. “There is convincing evidence poaching is aided by international criminal syndicates. It fuels corruption. It undermines the rule of law and security. It even provides funding for other transnational crime.”

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com