In all of Africa, there are only approximately 600,000 African elephants remaining, and around 38,000 elephants are illegally killed each year for their tusks. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora estimates that at least 25,000 elephants were poached in 2011. Scientists at National Geographic predict that if this trend continues, in about five years, the already endangered African elephants will become extinct in the wild.

Security on illegal exportation of ivory needs to increase and stopping unregulated domestic ivory markets found in a number of African and Asian countries would decrease the amount of ivory sold. Elephants are on the endangered species list, and with people killing these beautiful creatures just for their tusks, the elephant population is becoming dangerously low and at risk for extinction.

After poachers killed more than half of Africa’s elephants, an international ban on the commercial ivory trade was put in to place in 1989, but that did not stop poachers. The amount of killings is at an all time high, and 2011 broke the record for the amount of illegal ivory seized worldwide, at 38.8 tons, equaling tusks from more than 4,000 dead elephants.

In an interview National Geographic had about smuggling ivory with a Philippine church official, he had said, “Wrap it in old, stinky underwear and pour ketchup on it.” Another way to traffic ivory told by an Egyptian merchant who was taught by Chinese customers in a documentary by CNN, is to spray paint it to make it look like wood or metal wrapping it in tinfoil to throw off airport security systems. It can then easily be removed with nail polish remover. These techniques demonstrate just how easy it is for people to smuggle the outlawed ivory to other countries.

The Egyptian government makes periodic attempts to confiscate illegal tusks and some are locked up inside museum storerooms. That is what all other countries need to start doing to help stop wildlife trafficking and the illegal exportation of ivory. The government needs to also shut down markets and shops easily found all over Africa and Asia that illegally sell ivory. Most of the ivory is smuggled into Asian countries, the most popular being China and Japan. Seventy percent of all elephant ivory tusks flow into China, and ninety percent of the ivory transported is illegal. There is a global trade in smuggling ivory, and what is driving it are wealthy Chinese who prize ivory as a status symbol.

People need to realize how much danger elephants are in to becoming extinct in the wild, which is why we need more security on illegal exportation of ivory and unregulated domestic ivory markets need to be stopped or else in only a few years people might only be able to see these beautiful animals in captivity.