The Three Major Cartels Behind the Downfall of Africa’s Elephants

Samuel Wasser has noticed that the tusks are getting smaller.

Since 2005, he has been helping customs officials analyze the vast quantities of illegally smuggled elephant ivory that circulate around the world. Such shipments are on the rise, and more than 40 tons are seized every year. At the same time, the average size of the confiscated tusks has fallen; having killed off many of the largest elephants, poachers are now turning their attention to younger individuals.

For example, Wasser, who is a conservationist at the University of Washington, recently investigated a seizure that comprised 1,800 tusks, most of which were under two feet long. A hundred or so were barely longer than a pencil, and hollow on the inside. Each one belonged to a calf who was just a few years old, and still dependent on