Elephants are still headed for extinction

Elephants are heading toward extinction. The ivory trade provides poachers with a huge financial incentive to kill them for their tusks.

Rich big game "hunters" still are paying to go on safaris to kill them and mount their head on a lodge wall, think mansion. All the while the numbers of one of most intelligent and majestic mammals on the planet disappears forever.

But, there's a glimmer of hope, when the Chinese President, Xi Jinping recently visited Washington, he agreed with President Obama to ban the sale of ivory. Thus, the largest market for ivory, and motivation for slaughtering elephants, was removed effective March 31, 2016. And it's starting to slow the killing.

However, it remains to be seen if the elephants can be saved from extinction. There's fewer than 30,000 left in Africa and they're still being killed at a rapid rate.

If you believe, as I do, join "Save the Elephants," so our grandchildren might see one in the wild.

Tom Minnerick

Elgin