Delegates from 25 African countries and five Asian nations have drawn up a plan to address the upsurge in elephant poaching and illegal ivory trading .<br /><br />Meeting at a conference in Botswana, the countries are set to sign a memorandum of understanding – setting out a series of urgent measures.<br /><br />“The fact is that this level of illegal off-take is unsustainable. In 2012, it was estimated that a minimum of 20,000 elephants were illegally killed across monitored sites in the continent,” Botswana’s President Ian Khama told delegates.<br /><br />As many as 20 percent of Africa’s elephants could be killed within 10 years if poaching continues at current rates, according to data released at the conference.
