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t's a grim and all too common sight for rangers at some of Africa’s nature reserves: the bullet-riddled carcass of an elephant, its tusks removed by poachers. African elephant populations have fallen by about 30% since 2006. Poaching has driven the decline. Some reserves, like Garamba in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Selous in Tanzania, have lost hundreds of elephants to poachers over the last decade. But others, like Etosha National Park in Namibia, have been targeted far less.

Increased spot checks of vehicles inside the park will check for park offences such as possession of contraband and verification of identities and booking receipts of occupants inside the vehicles. Technologies being implemented include vehicle number plate recognition, remote vehicle monitoring, radar surveillance and night flying with specialised infrared cameras.

SANParks says the proliferation of wire snares in the Lowveld is linked to criminal networks.

Currently going for about $3,300 (about R46 000) per pound, the global trade in ivory is worth about $23 billion annually, a reality made plain by the gruesome photos of butchered elephants that have become almost commonplace. In recent years, massive seizures of ivory seemed to signal a headlong rush toward extermination. In response, the EU this year proposed a near total ban on the trade of ivory anywhere in the bloc.

Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) has increased in profile in recent years as a global policy issue, largely because of its association with declines in prominent internationally trafficked species. In this review, we explore the scale of IWT, associated threats to biodiversity, and appropriate responses to these threats.