Across Africa, the greatest killers of elephants are poaching, illegal ivory trade, habitat loss, and government-sanctioned hunting. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and TRAFFIC have repeatedly identified organized wildlife trafficking networks as the main drivers of elephant declines. The African Elephant Status Report shows tens of thousands of elephants slaughtered over the past decades due to ivory demand, not activism. Governments in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia have at times authorized elephant culls or promoted trophy hunting, political and economic decisions made under pressure, not as a result of activist campaigns. Animal advocates, meanwhile, have been the only consistent voice calling for tougher anti-poaching measures, tighter ivory bans, and more funding for local conservation. To claim they are to blame for "600 elephants killed" is like accusing firefighters of starting a blaze because they oppose arson. Who really has a stake in killing elephants Let’s be honest: those who profit from killing elephants have spent years trying to rebrand themselves as "conservationists." Trophy hunting operators claim they fund rural communities yet the majority of profits go to foreign outfitters, not locals. Ivory traders claim "regulated sales" would save elephants yet every legal market creates a laundering channel for illegal tusks.