The price of ivory has skyrocketed, the biggest bulls carry over 400 pounds (180 kg) of it, and laws don’t stop the poachers. They take the tusks and leave the rest to rot.

IT IS morning, and all is calm on the African savanna. A bull elephant is browsing among the shrubs. Curling his outstretched trunk around small plants and shoots, he uproots them, shakes the dirt off, and places them in his mouth, chewing contentedly; he is well on his way to consuming his daily 300 pounds (136 kg) of vegetation. He doesn’t know it, but he has seen 40 years pass on these grassy plains; his big tusks reflect his age. He may well continue to sire calves for another ten years and live for another decade beyond that.

A shot rings out, shattering the morning’s quiet.

The bullet comes from a high-powered rifle; it penetrates deep into the old bull’s side. He lets out an unearthly scream, staggers, and confusedly tries to lumber off, but more bullets come. He sinks at last to his knees and falls over. A small truck pulls up, and a band of men sets excitedly to work. They butcher the elephant’s face to get at the tusks from their very roots in the skull and hack them out quickly. Within minutes the poachers are gone. Silence returns to the savanna. The once lordly old bull elephant is now a mere 14,000 pounds (6,300 kg) of meat, left there to rot.

Sadly, this is far from an isolated case. In fact, estimates on the number of elephants killed annually by poachers range from 45,000 to 400,000. Wildlife surveys indicate that the total number of African elephants has dwindled from its former millions to near 900,000 animals. If poaching continues at its current pace, that number will be cut in half within the next ten years. As old bulls, or tuskers, become increasingly rare, more and more younger males and even females are shot.

Why the carnage? Africa’s $50 million-a-year ivory trade, coupled with the easy availability of automatic weapons, has made the elephant an irresistible target for poachers.